The Doctors and the Keys
by DWDuck
Summary: Dawn becomes critically ill when the magic binding her in human form starts to degrade. Lucky for her, two Doctors come to her rescue and join forces to find the one thing that can cure her, the Key of Time. This is the fourth story in "The Doctor's Faith" series starting with "The Doctor's Faith Healing".
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Doctors and the Keys  
Author: DWDuck  
Pairings: Faith and The Doctor (10th), Buffy and Spike  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to BtVS or Doctor Who. I'm just playing with their stuff. AU for Doctor Who.

Setting: Post Season 7 - BtVS and Pre-Water of Mars - Doctor Who.

Note: This is the fourth story in "The Doctor's Faith" series.

** The Doctors and the Keys**

**Cleveland, Ohio – IWC Compound**

William "Spike" Pratt groaned and held his head for a moment before staggering to his closet. He almost made it there, but his progress was halted when the door to his room flew open and the architect of his misery stood beaming his usual manic smile. "Bugger off," Spike whispered hoarsely. His tormenter just stood there, smiling. He was dressed in his blue pin striped suit and red Converse sneakers.

"Come on, Spike; night time is wasting," the Doctor said cheerily. Spike wanted to say something trite, but he was afraid his head would fall off if he spoke more. All though considering how he felt, turning to dust from the separation of his head might not be that bad. Spike settled instead for a rude hand gesture. The Doctor just chuckled. "I warned you last night, but nooooo…someone just wouldn't listen," the Doctor said, his cheery voice making the vampire want to vomit. "A little Judoon Brandy goes a long way," the Doctor reminded him.

"Blood…now," Spike demanded. When he saw the unhelpful look on the alien's face he added weekly, "_please_."

The Doctor fished into his "larger on the inside" pocket and drew out a pint of type "O" blood. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a straw. The Doctor poked the straw through the plastic bag and carefully handed it over to Spike.

Spike gingerly sipped at the blood until the pain in his head ebbed. When the headache was gone, Spike finished off the blood in one deep draw. Spike sighed and tossed the empty bag into a trash can near the bed to rest with others like it. "Thanks, mate. That really helps," Spike said. He glanced at the Doctor and a hint of the smirk that Spike usually wore started to return to his face.

"Feeling better?" the Doctor asked cheekily.

"Doctor, that spittoon brandy should have a warning…" Spike started to say.

"Judoon…'juh…dune'…," the Doctor corrected him.

"Doc, considering what my mouth tastes like, I'm pretty sure I pronounced it correctly," Spike said. He patted his jacket that was on a chair next to the bed. "There's gotta be a bloody pack of gum in here somewhere," Spike muttered. The Doctor reached into his cavernous, physics bending pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. He offered a stick to Spike after popping one in his own mouth. Spike was about to reach for the stick, but lessons from the previous night stayed his hand. "Is that from this planet?" he asked.

The Doctor looked down and the lettering on the pack. "Err…no, as a matter of fact it isn't," the Doctor said a bit confused. He didn't remember picking up a pack of gum from that particular planet.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Doc," Spike said. "I think I'll just keep looking for a pack of my own," he said. His eyes lit up when he found a pack of cigarettes instead. Spike tapped the end of the pack and a cigarette shot out. He moved his head a bit and caught the cigarette in his mouth. A high pitched noise flooded the room and the cigarette lit up.

The Doctor flipped his sonic screwdriver in his hand and then stashed it back in the special pocket in his jacket reserved just for it. "You're welcome," he said smugly. "Finish that quickly. We need to get to the chapel and start getting ready," the Doctor suggested.

Spike took another long drag on his cigarette and then ground it out in his ash tray. He stood up and put his jacket on. As the two friends walked out of the room, Spike affectionately put his arm around the Doctor's shoulder. The vampire smiled widely and said, "Got to admit, Doc…you throw one hell of a bachelor's party."

** Opening Credits**

The TARDIS flies out of a blue vortex and passes by into a red stormy Vortex. Names fly by slowly one at a time:

David Tennant

Peter Davison

Eliza Dushku

Janet Fielding

Sarah Sutton

Matthew Waterhouse

The names are followed by a flattened, golden ellipse with the words "Doctor Who" written on it. The logo flies away to be replaced by the words:

With

James Marsters

And

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The names fly away and are followed by:

"The Doctors and the Keys"  
By DWDuck

**Fifth Doctor's TARDIS**

"So…where should we go to now…hum?" the fifth Doctor asked as he led his companions back into the white walled control room. He tossed his straw hat onto the hat rack next to the doors. The fifth Doctor leaned forward onto the controls and pushed the lever that closed the main doors. He pushed himself off of the hexagonal console and spun around, looking at his Companions. The fifth Doctor clapped his hands once and asked, "Right…so any suggestions as to where we go? Adric? Nyssa? Tegan?"

Adric brushed snow off of his patchwork clothes. "Any where warm," he suggested.

Tegan shrugged off the large fur coat she was wearing and hung it next to the Doctor's straw hat. "How about we head somewhere we there aren't people trying to kill us?" she asked sarcastically. "Doctor, I don't care where we go as long as they have spa services," Tegan added.

"Spa service?" Nyssa asked as she hung up her coat as well.

"Yeah, it's where you go and have people tend to your every need: hair, manicure, massage…you know the basic necessities," Tegan replied.

Nyssa looked quickly over at the fifth Doctor. "I vote for Tegan's idea," she said with conviction.

The fifth Doctor chuckled and turned to face the console again. "I think that can be arranged. Just so long as we don't go to a leisure hive," he quipped and then laughed at his own joke. The fifth Doctor looked around and saw the blank looks on his Companions' faces. "Never mind," he mumbled. The fifth Doctor reached for the controls, but the Time Rotor started moving before he touched the console. "What?" he demanded as the familiar dematerialization noises started.

The TARDIS shook violently and a loud, clear bell tone rang out around them. "Doctor, is that the cloister bell again?" Tegan asked as she braced herself against the wall.

"What's a cloister bell?" Nyssa asked as she too had to lean on the wall to avoid falling.

"The cloister bell is an early warning for very, very bad things," the fifth Doctor explained. His brown eyes stared into the Time Rotor, looking for clues. "Where are you taking us?" he asked the TARDIS. As if in answer, the TARDIS shook again and the lights flickered before going out. Sparks sprayed from the center console and the fifth Doctor was thrown to the floor.

**Cleveland, Ohio – Wiccan Chapel**

Spike fidgeted next to the altar draped with flowers and vines. Both he and the Doctor were dressed in black tuxedos from the late Victorian era. The Doctor laid a reassuring hand on Spike's wrist to calm him down. Spike chuckled a little and whispered to the Doctor, "It's funny…you'd think that after 150 some odd years I would have gone through something like this already."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm over 900 years old and have only gotten married once," the Doctor whispered. A flash from the top light of the TARDIS, which was sitting in a corner, was the old machines way of laughing at him. The Doctor made a face at the TARDIS. "You think it's funny now, just wait till I'm 2000 years old and have just as many cats," he threatened. The Doctor stopped talking and straightened Spike's tie when Oz's band started playing a classical version of the wedding march. Oz had contacted some friends and managed to get a string quartet to accompany his band.

The doors to the back of the hall opened and Angel escorted Buffy to the beginning of the aisle. Spike was glad he didn't need to breathe. The sight of Buffy in her flowing white dress took his breath away and he doubted he would have remembered to start up again.

Giles stood up from his place at the front pew and walked back to Buffy. He extended his arm to Buffy and tucked hers under it. Together they walked down the aisle to where Dawn was waiting in a crimson dress. Willow smiled at Buffy and adjusted her ceremonial robes one last time. When they reached the altar, Giles let go of Buffy's arm and leaned down to kiss his "daughter" on the cheek. He whispered in her ear, "Remember…if things don't work out, you can always stake him. We won't think any less of you."

Buffy was going to say something back until she saw the tear of happiness slide down Giles' cheek. She reached up and brushed the tear away. "I love you, too," Buffy told the only man who she thought had the right to walk her down the aisle.

"Go on before you make my cry more," Giles said. He pat Buffy's arm one last time and took his seat next to his girlfriend, Brigadier General Winifred Bambera. Buffy stepped forward and took Spike's hand.

"Tonight we are gathered in the Coven hall to join two of our friends in marriage," Willow said, beginning the ceremony. "They do so under the watchful eye of Mother Earth, who incidentally owes both of them huge favors," she joked. "So please join me in our celebration of the love between Buffy Summers and William Pratt," Willow encouraged the audience.

Willow looked at Buffy and whispered, "I hate public speaking. I'm only doing this because you're my best friend and your fiancé has an aversion to crosses." Willow faced Spike. "William, do you promise to love Buffy and help her grow for as long as she lives?" she asked loudly.

"I promise to love her forever and will do everything I can to make her happy," Spike promised. "If in some way I can help this wonderful, amazing woman grow; then I will be the happiest man to have ever died," he said solemnly. "I also pledge to protect her and those she loves until I die the second death," Spike promised.

Willow nodded; impressed at the extras Spike had thrown in. She turned to face Buffy. "Buffy, will you promise to love Spike and keep him on the path of growth you have already started him on?"

Buffy tightened her grip on Spike's hand. "I promise to love him for all of time and from what the man who finally brought us together tells me, that's a really, really long time," she said and smiled at the Doctor.

Willow looked thoughtfully at the old alien who had done so much for her and her "family". She mouthed the words, "thank you" once again to the Doctor. Willow turned around and picked up a large candle. She used magic to make the flame come to life. "By fire, I bless you both," Willow said. She put down the candle and picked up a bronze bowl that held pure water. Willow put her hand in the bowl and used her magic to create a fine mist surrounding Buffy and Spike. The result was a multitude of rainbows dancing over them. "By water, I bless you both," Willow said.

Willow placed the bronze bowl on the altar and picked up an incense brazier. She used her magic to make the smoke billow out into the shape of a heart. "Show off," the Buffy kidded her best friend.

Willow heroically fought the urge to laugh and went on with the ceremony. "By air, I bless you both," she said. Willow put down the brazier. She reached out her hands and put one over both Buffy and Spike's hearts. "By the love you feel for each other, I bless you both," Willow said.

Willow turned and removed one of the vines from the altar. She wrapped it around Buffy and Spike's joined hands. "By Mother Earth, I bind you both in marriage in the presence of the other four elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Spirit," she said happily. "You may now kiss, but no hour long tonsil hockey, ok?" Willow requested.

"No promises, Red," Spike muttered as he passionately kissed his bride. After a while, Buffy came up for air to a huge round of applause.

"Ladies, Gentleman, and…others; I would like to present to you Mrs. Buffy and Mr. William Summers," Willow said. The announcement caused a bit of a stir amongst the applause.

"Do you honestly think I would let Buffy be known as 'Buffy Pratt'?" Spike asked the audience. "Besides, I was looking for a way to change my last name even before I became a vampire. Pratt the Poet sounds terrible," he said, laughing. The audience cheered and applauded even louder than before.

The Doctor clapped Spike on the back. "Come on, let's get you two to the reception hall," he said and started guiding the newlyweds to the door. They only made it a few steps when Buffy noticed Dawn wasn't with them. She looked back at her sister just in time to watch Dawn's eyes roll back in her head. Dawn collapsed in a heap at the base of the altar.

"Dawny?" Willow asked as she dropped to her knees next to the teenager.

Faith had hopped up from her seat and ran to join her lover, the Doctor. She watched him pull out his sonic screwdriver and wave it over Dawn. Faith saw his face fall and grow deeply troubled. He looked at Faith and then said, "Get everyone but the Scoobies out of here."

Very rarely did he ever give orders to her, so Faith knew things were bad. She grabbed Giles and Bambera's arm. "Doc says everyone has to go," she repeated to them.

"Ripper, you and Faith get everyone on the left side out while Angel and I get those on right out by way of the side doors," Bambera said, showing the organizational skills that led her to become the General in charge of UNIT. In no time, the only people left in the room were the wedding party, the Scoobies, Faith and Bambera.

Buffy looked up at the Doctor, fear evident I her eyes. Her expression clearly begged him to fix whatever was wrong her sister. He set his jaw in determination and began scanning Dawn a second time, just in case he was wrong the first time. Faith and Spike's head shot up when they heard the "chains being dragged over gears" sound of the TARDIS. They both looked nervously at the TARDIS. Faith grabbed the Doctor's shoulder to get his attention.

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor assured her. He was only giving part of his attention to the noise. "The TARDIS very rarely leaves without me. Besides, that's the materialization noise, not the dematerialization one," the Doctor said. He stopped suddenly when he realized what he had said.

The landing noise of the TARDIS sounded two more times and a gust of wind blew some of the decorations around. Everyone's eyes looked into the corner opposite of where the current Doctor's TARDIS lay silent. A second TARDIS, more faded blue took form. The public notice on the side of the second TARDIS was done with white letters on a blue background rather than the black on white of the current version. The doors opened slowly and smoke billowed out. Three people staggered out into the light, glad to breathe clean air.

The Doctor was shocked to his core at who he was seeing. "Tegan…Adric…Nyssa?" he asked softly.

"Doctor…" Tegan yelled back into the fifth Doctor's TARDIS when she saw a similar one across the room.

The fifth Doctor stumbled out backwards from his TARDIS, brushing soot off of his jacket and hat. "I was meaning to fix that capacitor anyways," he rationalized. The fifth Doctor stopped brushing his jacket when he saw that his Companions were dumbstruck. He turned around to see what they were looking at and his anger short circuited his usual polite nature. "**You**!" he yelled accusingly at his older self.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Doctors and the Keys**

**Chapter 2**

**Cleveland Ohio – Coven Hall**

"What?" the tenth Doctor asked in shock.

"You!" the fifth Doctor yelled accusingly at his older self. He stormed over to the tenth Doctor and started smacking him with his hat. "I should've guessed it had something to do with you when the TARDIS malfunctioned," the fifth Doctor yelled.

"Owe! Cut it out," the tenth Doctor yelled back.

"What was it? Did you forget to put the shields up again or did you do something even more stupid?" the fifth Doctor berated his other self and continued to hit the tenth Doctor on the head with his hat.

Faith snickered while everyone else looked on dumfounded. Buffy was becoming increasingly annoyed that the new guy was interfering with the Doctor helping Dawn. She moved faster than a normal human could and grabbed the fifth Doctor's wrists. "He said knock it off!" Buffy said icily.

"Actually I said 'cut it out', but that's close enough," the tenth Doctor said. He looked at his younger self. "Do you mind? I'm in the middle of trying to save this young lady's life…and no, I didn't leave the shields down," the tenth Doctor said.

"Well if it's not your fault that we're here at the same time, how did we manage a timeline merge?" the fifth Doctor asked peevishly. He looked at Buffy and asked, "May I have my arm back?" The fifth Doctor tried to pull his arm away, but the blonde bride had much more strength in her grasp than he expected.

Buffy kept her hand tightly on the fifth Doctor's wrist. "Only if you promise to stop hitting the Doctor and tell me who you are," she offered.

The fifth Doctor sighed. "I'll stop hitting him, but I reserve the right to hit him again if he does anything else stupid," he said. "As for who am I, I'm the Doctor of course," the fifth Doctor said smugly.

"No…he's the Doctor," Buffy said, refusing to let go of the man's wrist.

"Actually, we both are," the tenth Doctor said. Buffy gave him a confused look. "I'm what he becomes and he's what I used to be," he explained.

Buffy let go of the fifth Doctor's arm. "How about you try that one again in terms that makes sense?" she requested.

Faith stepped forward and pointed at the fifth Doctor. "The Doctor cheats death by regenerating into a different body when he gets killed. That one is the fifth body and ours is the tenth," she explained.

"I thought I recognized this bloke," Spike said. "He was one of the guys singing and dancing with the Doc on the final musical number," he stated, remembering their recent experiences with Sweet. "I recognize the cricket clothes and the celery," Spike said.

"I thought we did rather well on that number," the fifth Doctor mused happily.

"Doctor…" Tegan said, trying to get the fifth Doctor's attention. She was having difficulty following the conversation.

"Silence, Tegan," the fifth Doctor ordered, his mood becoming sour again. "I'm trying to figure out why we are here and what is wrong with the…well…with _my_ TARDIS," he said.

"Wow! You're kind of a dick," Faith told the tenth Doctor.

"I tended to get that way when I was stressed," the tenth Doctor said. "I've mellowed quite a bit with age," he told Faith.

"Excuse me!" the fifth Doctor bellowed.

"See what I mean," the tenth Doctor teased, winking at Faith. "Actually…5 is my favorite past life. Once I calm down, you'll see that I'm quite a nice fellow," he said.

"Yes…well, thank you," the fifth Doctor replied, calming down. He looked down at Dawn as if it was the first time he noticed her. "What's wrong with the young lady?" the fifth Doctor asked.

"I'll explain as soon as our 6 minutes and 9 seconds is up," the tenth Doctor said.

"Ok, that's random even for you," Faith told the tenth Doctor.

"It's a safety feature built into the TARDIS," the fifth Doctor started to explain. "To avoid irreparable paradox and thus the end of the universe as we know it, Rassilon and the Other programmed the TARDIS to erase all memories from the younger versions of the Time Lord after 6 minutes and 9 seconds of contact with a future self," he said. "It was set up so the Time Lord can communicate with himself without fear of destroying the Universe. It's quite handy considering how often I seem to run into myself," the fifth Doctor said.

"All right, I'll ask the obvious question," Spike piped in. "Why 6 minutes and 9 seconds?" he asked.

Both of the Doctors started chuckling. "Rassilon said he wanted the time frame before erasure to be longer than 6 minutes and in a fit of childishness, the Other added the extra 9 seconds just to annoy Rassilon," the fifth Doctor said.

"And that's time," the tenth Doctor said, straightening up. "Here, take a look at those readings and tell me what you think," he said as he handed over his sonic screwdriver.

The fifth looked at the readings and put on his frowny face again. "Are you sure you were using this thing correctly?" he asked the tenth Doctor.

"Yep," the tenth Doctor said, popping the last "p".

"What is she?" the fifth Doctor asked, perplexed.

"She's my sister and her name is Dawn," Buffy growled. "And if you don't quit dicking around I'm going to toss both of you out of here," she warned.

The fifth Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver in Buffy's direction and read the readings. "She's…human," he said glancing at the readings. "How can they be sisters?" he asked.

The tenth Doctor snatched his screwdriver back. "Long story and it involves a lot that I can't tell you. There are some things, soul shaking things that even a memory wipe from the TARDIS can't clear out" the tenth Doctor warned. He motioned for Willow to join him. "Ms. Rosenberg, would you be so kind as to use your magic to give us a visual representation of the spell the monks used on Dawn?" he asked.

"Um…OK, but I'm not sure if that will help much. The spell used on her is way more complex than I've ever seen," Willow said. She closed her eyes and a brief white glow surrounded her. The fifth Doctor's Companions stepped back in surprise. The fifth Doctor simply watched in fascination. White tendrils of energy reached out from Willow's hands and ran over Dawn's lithe frame. Golden symbols and equations sprang to life over the fallen girl's body. They rotated and swam around each other in a pattern too complex to be followed by a regular human. The Doctors reached into their jackets and pulled out their brainy specs at the same time. The tenth Doctor winked at his younger self who sheepishly put his glasses on.

"Why would somebody put such a complex binding spell on this young 'woman'?" the fifth Doctor asked.

"She's the Key," Buffy told the fifth Doctor, hoping he would know what that meant.

"No she's not," the fifth Doctor corrected her. "Her readings are completely different from the Key," he said. This made Buffy blink a couple of times in shock.

"Nope, pretty sure she's the Key," Xander said from the outside of the circle of friends that had huddled around Dawn. "We fought a Hell goddess to protect her and keep her from opening up a dimensional portal that would destroy the planet," he informed the blonde Doctor. The fifth Doctor looked at his older self for backup.

The tenth Doctor had to decide how much he could share with his younger self about Dawn. He looked around at the Scoobies and tried to decide how much he could share with them as well. As far as he knew, Dawn had never told any of them about her true nature or her special connection with him. He sighed wearily and decided that if any group of humans could handle the truth, these were the people; and as far as 5 was concerned, he would just try to limit any direct information about the Time War. "Actually Xander, I'm right," he said indicating the fifth Doctor. "She isn't the Key. She never was," the Tenth Doctor said. "Dawn isn't even her real name. It's the one she chose when she was forced to take human form by the monks," he added.

"What?" Buffy said in disbelief.

The tenth Doctor knelt next to Dawn again. He gently stroked a lock of hair out of her face. "Her real name is Harmony and in a wibbly wobbly, timey wimey fashion; I'm her father. Well…one of them at least, there were three of us who worked towards her creation," the tenth Doctor admitted.

Everyone stared at the tenth Doctor and then the fifth Doctor's Companions stared at him as he dropped to his knees next to the unconscious girl. "Harmony, what have they done to you?" he asked in a whisper. The fifth Doctor looked at her human body and then at the tenth Doctor. "How?" was all he asked.

"Magic," the tenth Doctor replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Evil forces were trying to use her energy form to rip open portals to some of the more nasty, lower dimensions," he explained.

"Binding her in human form is ridiculous," the fifth Doctor said angrily. "She's far too powerful to be constrained in such a manner," he pointed out. The fifth Doctor stood up and started pacing. "Tying her to this dimension would put incredible pressures on her. Eventually the pressures would become so great that she would burst from her containment. The resulting explosion would probably race through all known dimensions and remove any trace of her from existence," the fifth Doctor said nervously.

"Correct," the tenth Doctor praised his younger self. "No Eye of Harmony means no Time Lords. No Time Lords means a paradox so huge, Time would simply collapse and this dimension would cease to be," he said cautiously.

"The explosion has already started," the fifth Doctor surmised. "That's why my TARDIS ceased to function. She lost her connection with the Eye of Harmony and used what little reserve power she had to come to the source of the problem," he said. The fifth Doctor looked around the room and then back at Dawn. "Seeing as how none of my other regenerations are here, I must have been the only one close enough in the Vortex to make it," the fifth Doctor guessed.

"Sounds good as anything," the tenth Doctor said in a non-committal fashion.

"It just doesn't explain why your TARDIS looks to be in perfect health," the fifth Doctor said, gesturing to the other TARDIS.

"Oh that…well, she's flex fuel now," the tenth Doctor said, proud of his ability to keep the TARDIS running even after she lost her contact with her primary power source after the war.

Adric's curiosity over rode his natural fear of Magic. He stepped a few feet closer and watched the golden symbols and equations chase themselves over Dawn's body. "Doctor," he said, tugging on the fifth Doctor's sleeve without looking away from the golden problem.

The fifth Doctor looked at Adric's expression and asked, "What is it, Adric?"

Adric released the fifth Doctor's arm and pointed at the swarming symbols. "I've seen this before," he said. "These are the same equations the Logopolans were working on…just the equations seem to be degrading," Adric explained.

Both Doctors leaned towards the golden representation of the spell the monks used. "Yeah…I see it now," the tenth Doctor exclaimed. He stepped back and smacked his forehead with his hand. "Of course…that's the only way the monks would be able to contain her. They tied the binding spell directly into the source code of the Universe," the tenth Doctor said.

Willow rocked back onto her heels in defeat. "How can we even hope to fix Dawny if the problem lies in the how the Universe itself works?" she moaned. The room became quiet as everyone let that sink in. Buffy began to cry and turned her face towards Spike's chest, sobbing. Spike tried to come up with something comforting to say, but came up empty. He just held his new wife in his arms. Willow saw Buffy crying and started crying herself.

"_You_ can't change the very nature of existence," the tenth Doctor said, his face set in determination. "But just maybe I can," he shouted.

"Oh no…it's far too dangerous to go down that route," the fifth Doctor said, making the same leap the tenth Doctor had. "There's a very good set of reasons why the segments were scattered again," he reminded the tenth Doctor.

Buffy had stopped crying and looked hopefully at the tenth Doctor. "If it can help Dawn, we have to find whatever it is you guys are talking about," she said resolutely.

The fifth Doctor looked at Buffy, different emotions warring across his face. "What we are talking about is the Key…the real Key…the 'Key of Time'," he told Buffy. "It's an artifact that grants the user unlimited power to reshape the fabric of reality as they see fit," he explained.

"Good lord," Giles swore.

"Exactly," the tenth Doctor agreed. "After we dealt with it last time, the six segments were scattered by the White guardian throughout time and space," he said.

"And with my TARDIS out of commission, we're stuck here," the fifth Doctor said. The tenth Doctor jerked his thumb at _his_ TARDIS. The fifth Doctor took off his brainy specs and put them in his pocket. "Flex-fuel you say?" he asked. The tenth Doctor nodded. "All right then, let's get to it," the fifth Doctor said, giving in.

Buffy walked over to a large speaker box off to the side of the altar. She pressed the hidden catch and the false front swung open to reveal and small set of weapons. Buffy pulled out a sword and then tossed one to Spike. "We're coming with you guys," she told them, leaving no room for argument.

"Now see here…I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," the fifth Doctor said.

"Buffy," the blonde Slayer told him.

"Really?" the fifth Doctor asked, surprised at the odd name. Buffy rolled her eyes at the umpteenth time some asked her that. "Well then, _Buffy_, perhaps you might want to stay with your sister," he suggested.

"She's coming along with us in the TARDIS," Buffy informed him.

The fifth Doctor was about to protest when the tenth put his hand on his shoulder. "It's a lot less painful if you agree with her from the beginning," he confided.

The fifth Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Right," he said. "Your TARDIS, so I suppose you get to decide who gets to come along," he conceded.

The tenth Doctor smiled and snapped his fingers, hoping the TARDIS would want to show off her new trick. She was feeling obliging and the front doors opened by themselves. The fifth Doctor looked suitably impressed. Spike picked up dawn with no effort at all. He and Buffy hurried into the TARDIS.

The tenth Doctor turned around and looked at the three people who had once been his Companions. "You three up for another adventure?" he asked.

Tegan , Nyssa, and Adric looked to the fifth Doctor for guidance and permission. He smiled at them and jerked his head towards the tenth Doctor's TARDIS. "Go on," he said.

Faith gestured for the other Companions to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you guys around. From what the Doc tells me, the TARDIS has had a major remodel since your Doctor," she said. Fait turned around and walked into the TARDIS.

The tenth Doctor watched his younger self's face as he tried to hide the fact that he was looking at Faith's butt while she walked. The fifth Doctor caught him looking and gave the other Doctor a sly smile. "I see that I still have an eye for attractive Companions," he said.

"Ohhh…she more that," the Tenth Doctor said slowly. "She's my girlfriend," he boasted.

"Your what?" the fifth Doctor spluttered.

**DrW**

Author's note: For those of you wondering about the 6 minutes and 9 seconds…it's the amount of time Peter Davison spends on screen during "Time Crash".


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Thanks once again to MarcusSLazarus for all his help on this story.

**The Doctors and the Keys**

**Chapter 3**

TARDIS

Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric followed the young brunette through the front doors of the tenth Doctor's TARDIS. Once inside, the three Companions of the fifth Doctor stopped and looked around in wonder. Faith heard their gasps and turned around. She had an amused smile on her face. "What's with you guys? I thought the TARDIS has always been bigger on the inside," she asked.

"In the TARDIS we use, the front doors lead into the control room," Nyssa tried to explain.

Adric walked up the catwalk a few more steps and then brushed his hands across the new console panels. He reached out and gently tapped on the floor to ceiling Time Rotor shaft. "I think they still do," Adric muttered. "Nyssa, come look at the console. It's laid out in the same pattern as _our_Doctor's console and I think this," he tapped on the glowing tube again, "is the Time Rotor," he said.

Nyssa hurried forward and started running from panel to panel examining the changes. Tegan folded her arms and nodded her head in appreciation. "Beats white, that's for certain," she said. Tegan joined the others around the console and started chuckling when she saw the label on the airline seats that had been installed on the railing. They read, "Qantas Airline, Qf32". "Qf32" was the designation of the Sydney to London flight. "Oh, Doctor," she whispered affectionately. Tegan decided she liked this version of the Doctor almost as much as she hers. She tapped Faith on the shoulder, extended her hand, and said, "Tegan Jovanka."

Faith returned the handshake with a firm one of her own. "Faith Lehane," she replied. "I recognize you from the photos the Doc keeps in his room," Faith informed her.

"You've been inside the Doctor's bedroom?" Adric asked in surprise. To his knowledge, neither he nor his two friends had ever seen the inside of the Doctor's sleeping quarters.

"Of course I've seen it," Faith laughed. "It's my bedroom too," she told him. Tegan's face lit up at the thought of the Doctor actually having a non-platonic relationship. Nyssa and Adric just looked confused.

"Are there shortages of rooms now? Did the Doctor have to jettison even more of the TARDIS?" Adric asked.

Tegan and Faith laughed. "No, Adric, I'm sure there are plenty of rooms still in the TARDIS," Tegan told him.

Nyssa cocked her head as she tried to pull things together and then her eyes grew wide. "Oh, my," she said breathlessly.

"What? I still don't understand," Adric complained.

"Dude…I'm his girlfriend," Faith explained.

Adric pointed to the other two companions. "They're female friends of the Doctor as well. I don't see what that has to do with anything," he said. Nyssa walked up to Adric and whispered something in his ear. "Ohhh," he said and blushed a deep crimson. "Um…nice to meet you," Adric said, trying to change the subject.

Tegan wasn't having any of that. "So how long have you two been together…dating I mean, not as his Companion?" she asked Faith. Adric hurried to the other side of the console and tried to lose himself in the new controls.

"We've been an item for almost a year now," Faith replied.

"What's it like?" Nyssa asked, getting in on the gossip. The three women began chatting away about their favorite alien.

The fifth Doctor and his older self strode through the front doors and made their way to the center console. The younger Doctor noticed the three women were shooting the Doctors conspiratorial glances from the other side of the Time Rotor. "Oh…bother," the fifth Doctor sighed. "Those two aren't going to let me hear the end of it now that they know Miss Lehane is more than just a Companion," he whispered to the tenth Doctor.

"Doctor…what happened to the control room?" Adric asked loudly, not caring which Doctor answered.

"My guess is the primary and secondary control rooms somehow merged. Am I right?" the fifth Doctor asked.

The tenth Doctor nodded. He looked around and for the first time in ages noticed how much she had changed since even his seventh self. "Something like that, yeah…but it's a bit more complicated," the tenth Doctor answered, not wanting to give too much away. The TARDIS had been severely damaged during his eighth life. Not only had it been forced to completely reconstruct itself after suffering serious damage in the final battle of the Time War, but after that the Doctor had been forced to use the TARDIS to contain a cold fusion explosion that could have killed many, many people. Unfortunately, the explosion took place in the primary control room. Due to its limited power in the absence of the Eye of Harmony, the TARDIS rebuilt itself by combining what was left of the two control rooms into a completely new one.

"But why does it look so different?" Adric asked. "The secondary control room on the TARDIS is wood paneled," he stated.

"The TARDIS has several desktop themes that can be used for the secondary control room. I have always been partial to the 'English study' one myself," the fifth Doctor told Adric. "For some reason I can't fathom, this Doctor prefers the 'Coral' one," he said shaking his head. "It's even worse than the 'Leopard skin' theme," the fifth Doctor repeated from his last visit to the tenth Doctor's TARDIS.

"Oi! I happen to like the organic look," the tenth Doctor said defensively.

The fifth Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, now that you have us all in the TARDIS; how do you propose we go about actually locating the segments?" he asked pointedly.

The tenth Doctor ran his hand through his messy brown hair. "Um…that's a really good question," he admitted. "I suppose we could…no that will never work. Maybe we could…no…no, I accidently dropped that in a nuclear reactor. Big boom, let me tell you," the tenth Doctor babbled.

"I knew it. I've gone senile," the fifth Doctor complained. The Time Rotor flashed, getting the Doctors' attention.

"See…she knows how to build one, no problem," the tenth Doctor said happily. "Wait, how did you manage that?" he asked the TARDIS.

"Who's he talking to?" Tegan asked. Nyssa shrugged her shoulders. The Time Rotor flashed again. Both Doctors looked a little chagrinned.

The Time Rotor flashed an angry red before going back to its normal blue. "Now you're just being crude," the tenth Doctor told the TARDIS.

"What did Blue have to say?" Faith asked.

"I'm not going to translate the last bit, it was a rather inappropriate metaphor," the tenth Doctor said. "As for the rest, she says since she was in such close contact with the original tracer, she believes we can construct a new one with parts from the storeroom," he explained.

The fifth Doctor didn't know if he should be angry or amused at the current attitude the TARDIS was showing. "Where did she learn that kind of language?" he asked.

Faith knew when to make an exit. "I'm …going to go check on Buffy and Dawn," she said hastily. Faith made a bee line for the door that led to the rest of the TARDIS.

The tenth Doctor watched Faith leave, again appreciating how good she looked in the tight black dress she was wearing. "I'm going to have quite the handful, aren't I?" the fifth Doctor chuckled, indicating Faith.

"Yep," the tenth Doctor agreed. "But she worth every bit of it," he assured his younger self. The tenth Doctor bent down and removed one of the floor grates. "Let's get to work on cobbling together a new tracer," he suggested. The tenth Doctor suddenly looked down at the tuxedo he was wearing. "Right after I change," he said.

An hour and several disagreements over the usefulness of a sonic screwdriver later, the two Doctors had managed to piece together a new tracer. The new model consisted of a black, triangular base with sides approximately 5 centimeters long. On top of the base was a clear tube that was filled with glowing blue gas on one end and red on the other. The tube spun freely about its center. While the Doctors had been busy working on the tracer, the TARDIS had reconfigured one of the console panels to accept having the tracer put onto it.

Faith and Spike walked into the control room to check the progress. Spike had changed into a pair of black jeans and a black tee-shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly. Faith had changed into a pair of faded blue jeans and a red tank top. "How's it going in here, Doc?" Faith asked.

"Fine," both Doctors replied. The Doctors smiled at each other and the tenth Doctor took the tracer and slipped it into the waiting slot. While he did this, the fifth Doctor kept staring at Spike, finally having a moment to slow down a bit.

"I'm sorry, usually I have a better memory for these kind of things, but…have we met before?" he asked.

"You probably remember seeing me at Wolfram & Hart," Spike suggested.

"No, I don't think that's it. Where have I seen you before?" the fifth Doctor pondered.

"Sorry, Doctor, I'm pretty good with faces and I'm sure we didn't meet before that," Spike said.

The tenth Doctor looked up from the console. "1880, London," he prompted the fifth Doctor.

The fifth Doctor looked closer at Spike. "William Pratt," he said suddenly. The fifth Doctor hurried over to Spike and shook his hand. "I loved your poems. It's truly a shame what happened to you," he said offering his condolences.

"I've gotten used to being a vampire, besides if I wasn't I would have never met my wife, Buffy," Spike said philosophically.

The fifth Doctor frowned. "I'm sorry, did you just say vampire?" he asked.

"Yeah, Spike's a vampire…well, vampire half-breed," the tenth Doctor confirmed. "Although I'm not certain he fits that description any more either. You see, brave, brilliant, beautiful Spike over there fought to regain his soul and won," the Doctor said proudly of his friend.

"Remarkable," the fifth Doctor said as he slipped on his brainy specs. He moved his head from side to side, examining Spike.

As usual, Spike was slightly embarrassed at the praise the Time Lord gave him. At least he was until he thought back to what the fifth Doctor had just said. "If you weren't talking about me being turned into a vampire, what were you talking about?" Spike asked.

The fifth Doctor walked around Spike, continuing his examination. "What Anyanka did to you, of course," he muttered.

Spike spun around inhumanly fast and fast the fifth Doctor. "What did you say?" he asked in a stern voice.

The tenth Doctor made a noise by sucking on his teeth. "Oooh, I wasn't going to mention that part," he said and then went back to calibrating the controls.

Spike stormed over to the tenth Doctor. "What's he talking about, Doc?" asked.

A pinging noise came from the console and the blue end of the tracer began glowing brighter. "Thank the Vortex," the tenth Doctor swore under his breath. "Looks like we have the coordinates for the first segment," he said loudly. He tossed the switch that sent the TARDIS into the Vortex and on to its destination. Only after the tenth Doctor threw the switch did he look closer at the coordinates. "Why there?" he asked the Universe softly. Within moments, the TARDIS materialized on a planet in the late stages of terraforming.

Faith watched as the color drained out of her Doctor's face. He staggered back until his back was pressed against the railing. Even though he was alien, Faith had learned to read her lovers expressions well. The tenth Doctor wasn't backing away in fear; he was staggering from tremendous sorrow. "Doc, where are we?" Faith asked softly.

Faith's voice snapped the tenth Doctor out of his memories. "Messaline," he responded. He took Faith's hand for support as he said, "It's where my daughter was born."

The fifth Doctor looked at Faith and correctly assumed she wasn't the mother, considering the look of shock on her face. "Good lord, I become a man slut," he said without realizing he had spoken.

The tenth Doctor glared at his younger self and for the first time, the fifth Doctor had a glimpse of the terrible pain that filled his hearts. "Her name was Jenny. She came out of a progenation machine after it took a tissue sample of mine," the tenth Doctor corrected the fifth one. "Messaline is also where she died," he said coldly. Faith's grip tightened on the Doctor's hand.

Spike walked over and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. He gave the shoulder a small squeeze and said, "I'm sorry, mate."

The fifth Doctor was touched by how easily these Companions showed emotion. "I have my deepest sympathies," he told his older self.

The tenth Doctor shook himself out of his depression. "Right, let's get this over with, shall we?" he asked. "Nyssa…Adric, you two stay with Buffy and Dawn. See if there's anything in the library that might help stabilize Dawn. If you can't find the library, Buffy can show you where it moved to," the tenth Doctor ordered.

"And me, Doctor?" Tegan asked.

"Would you have stayed behind even if I asked you to?" the tenth Doctor asked with a fond smile.

"Of course I wouldn't," Tegan admitted.

The fifth Doctor smiled as he watched the byplay between Tegan and himself. He stretched out his arm and plucked he tracer off of the console. With tracer in hand, the fifth Doctor walked over to the hat rack and grabbed his tan hat. "Shall we?" he said, echoing the tenth Doctor.

The tenth Doctor frowned and scrunched up his face. "How come you get to hold the tracer?" he asked petulantly.

"Because I'm younger and faster," the tenth Doctor explained. "Perhaps I might let you have a turn on the next segment," he said noncommittally.

The fifth Doctor waited at the doors until the tenth Doctor gave in and opened them. "It's my TARDIS, I should be the one to hold the tracer," he heard the tenth Doctor complain to Faith.

The TARDIS had landed on the stage of a quaint theater. The walls were lined with floor to ceiling windows with only light coming in from the stained glass tops. "Hum…still living underground I see," the tenth Doctor mused once those going on the expedition were out of the TARDIS. "A bit odd that, but I love what they've done to this place," he said spinning around to take in the whole theater. Gone were the military cots and weapon stockpiles. In their place were rows of seats like a theater should have. The tenth Doctor craned his neck and looked up at the ceiling.

Faith followed his gaze and looked up at the ceiling as well. The ceiling had been painted as a mural depicting the Doctor's last visit to the planet. The first panel showed the Doctor with his hand in a machine. The next panel showed the machine opening and a petite blonde woman surround by glowing light emerge from it. Faith scanned the other panels and stopped when she saw the ones that showed Jenny taking a bullet for the Doctor and then dying in his arms. The final panel was only partially completed as if the artist had been suddenly interrupted. The panel showed what Faith suspected to be Jenny laying on a slab. Only her legs had been painted in.

Faith decided she needed to lighten her lover's mood. She nudged his arm and pointed to a panel showing him, Donna, and Jenny running down a tunnel. "Wow, that one really makes your ass look huge," she teased him.

"What?" the tenth Doctor exclaimed, slightly insulted. He turned around several times on the stage as he tried to look at his own butt.

The fifth Doctor shook his head in frustration. "Our butt looks fine, I'm sure she's just teasing you," he said. The tenth Doctor stared at Faith, who was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. The tracer flashed insistently and the tube moved slightly as the fifth Doctor shifted his position. The fifth Doctor took a bearing and started walking towards the exit door at the rear of the theater. "Right… this way people," he ordered. As the group started to move, the fifth Doctor was surprised when Spike shouldered past him and took point. The fifth Doctor looked towards the rear of the group and saw Faith was hanging back to protect their flanks. This had all happened without a word spoken between the two warriors.

When they came to the second intersection in the tunnel they were walking through, the fifth Doctor stopped to get another reading. The tenth Doctor moved next to him and said, "Something is very wrong here."

"How so?" the fifth Doctor inquired.

"We've been walking for ten minutes and haven't run into anyone," the tenth Doctor told him. "There were quite a few humans and Hath when I left here," he said.

"Night cycle?" the fifth Doctor suggested, having little hope that he was correct.

"Nah…some thing's definitely wrong here," the tenth Doctor assured him.

"Well, the sooner we locate the segment, the sooner we can go about fixing whatever is wrong here," the fifth Doctor said.

The tenth Doctor's manic smile finally returned to his face. He winked at his younger self and said, "Yeah, 'cause that's what we do isn't it? We fix it when things go wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

**Messaline**

The two Doctors, Spike, Faith, and Tegan continued to walk down the deserted underground passageway. Unfortunately for them, the tunnels changed directions several times as they twisted below Messaline's surface. Whenever the group would reach an intersection, the fifth Doctor would take another reading with the tracer and point them down whichever tunnel looked to be a more direct route to the segment. They were at their sixth such intersection when they finally found signs of life.

Spike looked back at Faith to see if she heard the running footsteps from up ahead. Her nod when she met his eyes told him that she had. "Company, Doc," Spike told the tenth Doctor. Faith made her way to the front of the group while Spike stepped into a small alcove a little bit further down the tunnel and became still like only an master vampire could do.

Eventually they were all able to hear the running footsteps coming from down the corridor. A pair of Hath and a human wearing an orange space suit ran into view. The human had his helmet on and sealed as if he were unable to breathe in the atmosphere of the tunnels. The two Hath were only wearing dark gray uniforms. The lack of a helmet showed their fish like faces and the liquid breathing adapter they held in their jaws. All three were carrying a small assault rifle like the ones used during the human / Hath civil war on Messaline. "Halt! What are you fools doing out of the containment zone?" the human asked by way of the speaker on the front of his suit.

"Containment zone?" the tenth Doctor asked. He glanced scornfully at the rifles they were carrying. "I guess it was too much to hope for that you lot would follow my example and get rid of those awful things," the tenth Doctor said in disappointment.

One of the Hath's eyes started blinking rapidly and the bubbles in his breathing adapter doubled. The other Hath looked over at him and then his bubbles also increased. Both Hath made eye contact with the tenth Doctor and then went down on one knee in reverence.

The human was looking shocked at his fellow soldiers' actions. "Turn on your damn translators. You guys know I don't speak Hath well enough to understand what you…" he started to yell. His sentence was cut off when Spike stepped out from his alcove and snatched the assault rifle out of the human's hands. The human soldier spun around, ready to grab his weapon back. Spike held the rifle over his head and put on his vampire game face. The sudden transformation of Spike's face and the appearance of two very sharp looking fangs caused the human to stumble backwards toward the Doctors.

"Thank you, Spike," the tenth Doctor said cordially and stepped towards the soldiers. "Now I want someone to tell me what is going on," he said, putting just a tiny amount of his authority into his voice.

The space suit clad man turned his head and finally got a good look at the tenth Doctor. The soldier scrambled around and quickly knelt on one knee as well. "Doctor, forgive me. I didn't recognize you," he said solemnly. The man tilted his head upwards and his earlier fear and anger were gone. In their place was a wide smile of renewed hope. "Blessed be the maker that she heard our prayers. Thank you for responding to the distress call we put out," the man checked a readout on his wrist computer, "…exactly one hour ago," the human said, surprised at how quickly the Doctor had come.

"She's still overly fond of her dramatic entrances I see," the fifth Doctor whispered to the tenth in reference to their TARDIS. He stepped forward out of the shadows and addressed the kneeling soldiers. "Oh do get up. I can't have a decent conversation with anyone who is kneeling to me," he said. The three soldiers stood up and looked to the tenth Doctor for some sign of what to do next.

"Yeah…the kneeling, genuflecting, prostrating themselves before us…I got over that bit back during my first life," the tenth Doctor said. "All right, like I said before…what is going on here?" he asked. "Why are you lot still waving those awful toys around?" the tenth Doctor demanded.

The human soldier craned his body around so he could look at Spike who was still holding the rifle in the air. Mercifully, Spike had changed his face back to look like a human. "We only use them to protect ourselves against the contaminated ones," he told the tenth Doctor.

"Let me guess," the fifth Doctor said acidly. "The 'contaminated ones' have got a hold of some new idea and that really bothers your leaders," he offered as an explanation.

The Hath bubbles stirred up again in the aquatic soldiers' breathing mask. The tenth Doctor gave them a very disappointed look. "You see, that's just typical blind prejudice talking," he warned them.

For some reason, the TARDIS had a difficult time translating bubble formations into speech for the Companions. "What did they say, Doc?" Faith asked her boyfriend.

"They said they aren't sure the contaminated ones are even capable of thought," the tenth Doctor said scornfully. As if waiting for a cue, an inarticulate wail came at them from a side tunnel. The three soldiers jumped to their feet and the Hath took up firing positions at the mouth of the tunnel.

The human soldier slowly turned to face Spike and pointed at his assault rifle. "Please, may I have that back, sir?" he asked with careful politeness. Spike's vampire hearing picked up the noises coming from a large "pack" of predators coming at them.

"Bugger me. I already saw this one on late night TV," Spike swore. Much to the amazement of the Doctors, Spike handed the rifle back to the soldier.

"Spike, just because he said please doesn't mean you have to give it back," the fifth Doctor chided the vampire. Spike ignored him and rolled his head from side to side, loosening up.

Faith's hearing caught what Spike's did. She was able to make out the hungry moans coming from the group shambling towards them. "Shit," Faith said as she hit one of the Hath on the shoulder to get its attention. She held up her arms in front of her and mimed a dazed shamble forward. "You fucknuts couldn't have just said 'Zombies'?" she asked the three soldiers in irritation.

The two Doctors looked at each other as comprehension dawned on them. "Contaminated ones," they said in unison. As they said that, the human soldier pulled a small orb off of his suit and tossed it down the tunnel towards the approaching noises. When the ball struck the ground it quickly went from an opaque black to a bright, shining light that illuminated the pack of zombies making their way towards what they hoped was their next meal. The zombies looked like they had all started out as humans, but had been changed into wild, feral beasts. Rotting flesh showed wherever one of the creatures had a wound. Some of the predators shambling towards them were even missing a limb.

"Oh dear…" the fifth Doctor muttered. "Perhaps you should lead us back to this so called containment zone?" he asked the nearest Hath. The Hath in turn tapped the human soldier on the shoulder and nodded. The man in the orange space suit nodded back and put his hand on Tegan's arm.

"Come on, I'll lead you back to the containment zone and we can check you folks over for contamination," the human soldier said. His Hath counterparts fired down the tunnel from their places of cover. The human soldier started running down the tunnel he came from.

The fifth Doctor glanced down at the other Doctor's choice in footwear. "Always a good choice," he said in appreciation of the tenth Doctor's red trainers.

"Still do a lot of running," the tenth Doctor said with a smile.

"Will you two quit playing with yourself and move your cute ass?" Faith yelled from down the tunnel the soldier had run down. The sound of gunfire and the zombie moans convinced the Doctors that Faith was indeed correct and they ran to join her.

The human soldier led them deep into the tunnel system. The fifth Doctor felt the directional pointer of the tracer swing in his pocket. He took it out and was relieved to see that it was pointing the direction they were going. The blue end was even glowing more to indicate they were getting close to the first segment. The fifth Doctor put it back in his pocket when they came to an airlock studded with sensors and tubes of gasses on the side. There were two Hath standing guard on either side of the entrance to the air lock.

The human soldier walked up to the Hath on his right and pointed back towards the tenth Doctor. "Look who I found in the tunnels," he said proudly. The Hath bubbled happily and went down on one knee. "We don't have time for that," the tenth Doctor admonished them. The Hath stood again, their breathing masks still bubbling happily. "I need to ask some questions," the tenth Doctor said. "First off, am I correct in assuming those were the contaminated ones?" he asked.

"Yes, Doctor," the human soldier said.

"Forget what I said about the guns. If those things are what I think they are, you'll probably need bigger ones," the tenth Doctor amended. "My second question is more of an observation," he said. The tenth Doctor gestured towards the Hath. "From their lack of containment suit, I assume they are immune to whatever is causing those folks to turn into zombies," he said.

"That's correct, Doctor. The virus only affects humans," he said. "In order to get into the containment zone, we have to scan you in the airlock and then disinfect you," the soldier said.

"All right, Tegan, in you go," the tenth Doctor said.

"Why me? How come I have to go first?" Tegan said suspiciously. She pointed at Spike and then Faith. "Why not someone else?" she asked.

Spike held up his hand. "Already dead, can't get sick," he said in an offhand manner. This remark caused a stir among the Messaline soldiers.

"Not entirely human," Faith said, raising her hand. "Definitely not human," she said pointing to the Doctors. "You're the one most at risk because you're completely human," Faith told her. "Now get your ass in the airlock before I toss it there," she ordered. Tegan wasn't used to be treated that way, but she did what she was told. As the door to the airlock swung shut, Tegan heard Faith asking her, "What the fuck is up with those pumps anyway? If Five does as much running as Ten, I'm surprised you haven't broken an ankle." The door shut completely and Tegan pondered all the times she had twisted an ankle and let the bad guys catch up to her.

Purple and green gasses filled the chamber, blocking Tegan from view. Eventually the gasses were evacuated and the air lock stood empty. One by one the time travelers went through the process. The Doctors were the last to go through.

The tenth Doctor stepped out of the airlock into the main garden of the colony. His throat tightened when he realized it was the same garden where his daughter had died in his arms. The fifth Doctor's angry shouts brought him back to the present.

"What have you done with Tegan?" the fifth Doctor yelled at the human soldier who was taking off his space suit.

"I'm so very sorry, sir," the human soldier told the fifth Doctor. "The scanners detected the presence of the virus in your friend's blood stream," he said sadly. "We shunted her to the holding area where we try to make those infected comfortable until the virus kills them. After that, we incinerate the corpse before it reanimates," the soldier explained.

"No…no…this isn't right," the tenth Doctor said. He looked at his younger self and put his hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure something out," the tenth Doctor said. "For what's it worth, this isn't how I remember parting company with Tegan," he tried to assure the fifth Doctor.

The fifth Doctor gave a weary sigh. "You know as well I do that time can be rewritten and will flow around obstacles like this," he told his older self. "We need to find out everything we can about the virus," the fifth Doctor said.

"I can probably help with that," a young man in a white lab coat said.

"Cline?" the tenth Doctor asked, recognizing the young soldier.

"Yes, Doctor. I decided to follow in your footsteps and devote myself to helping others," Cline replied. He turned and beckoned the Doctors to join him at a computer station set up a few meters away from the airlock. The technician who was sitting at the computer stood up so that Cline could take his seat. Cline sat down and tapped in his access codes. While he was typing to bring up the relevant files, Cline looked over his shoulder and spoke to the tenth Doctor. "After you and Jenny left us, General Cobb managed to break out of prison," he said.

"Who's he?" Faith asked.

"The man who shot my daughter," the tenth Doctor said softly.

"Dead man walking," Faith muttered so softly that only Spike could hear her. The blonde vampire caught her eye and nodded in agreement.

"Cobb's also the man responsible for this plague," Cline added.

"What?" the Doctor's said in unison.

Cline looked back to his computer screen and continued to speak. "Once Cobb was free, he gathered those humans who still clung to the idea of a Hath free Messaline," he said. "About 6 months after his escape, the first copses started rising from their graves," cline told them. He finished typing and scooted his chair back so that the Doctors could get a better look at the information presented.

The Doctors pulled out their brainy specs at the same time and put them on. They were so focused on the information on the screen they didn't notice the odd look Cline gave them. "Damn!" the fifth Doctor swore when he looked at a three dimensional model of the virus. The fifth Doctor glanced at the tenth. "I trust you still recognize this virus?" he asked the other Doctor.

The tenth Doctor nodded. "It's as I feared, a version of the Tyrant virus," he said. "This one looks to have mutated significantly over the last couple hundred years," the tenth Doctor noted.

"General Cobb gave out a message after the first attack on the outskirts of the city. He said that he had a vaccine for the virus, but no antidote," Cline said. "The bastard said he would offer the vaccine to any human who would serve his cause," he swore. Cline looked at the tenth Doctor for approval. "Most of us still believed in what you and Jenny taught us, Doctor. We refused to take up arms against our Hath brothers and sisters," he said. The tenth Doctor gave him a small, proud smile. "Medical teams were scattered through the city looking for those amongst us who hadn't been infected. We brought them to the great garden and sealed ourselves off from the rest," Cline said in a tired voice. "My team and I have been working night and day to come up with a cure, but without a sample of the original virus or vaccine; there isn't much we can do," he admitted. "We finally gave up hope of finding a cure on our own and voted to activate the emergency distress beacon," Cline said.

The fifth Doctor took off his straw hat and ran his hand threw his blonde hair. "Just so I'm clear on this…Cobb is a human who released a virus killing off other humans in an effort to enlist said humans in joining his cause?" he asked for clarification. Cline nodded his head. "Humans," the fifth Doctor said reproachfully.

The tenth Doctor sat down on a nearby crate, his hearts breaking. "I refused to kill him and now look what happened," he said to no one in particular.

"No, Doctor," Cline said. "You gave that evil man a chance at redemption that he squandered," he said with conviction.

Spike raised his hand with a question. "Excuse me," he said. "Is it safe to assume this ponce still has the vaccine at his compound?" Spike asked.

"Yes, every week a couple of our people defect over to his side out of fear and he gives them the vaccine," Cline replied.

"Right then," Spike said, cracking his knuckles. "Who's up for a little visit to General Cobb?" he asked.

"Ready when you are," the tenth Doctor said.

"No you aren't," Faith told her boyfriend. The tenth Doctor looked at her in shock. Faith stepped up to him and placed a hand over each of his hearts. "I know that face," she told him. "If you go after Cobb now, you can't guarantee that you won't kill him this time. I won't risk you losing yourself over this douche bag," Faith told him. She kissed his cheek and then glanced at the fifth Doctor. "You and yourself can better help out by working with Doogie Howser here in finding a cure. Leave the violence to the pros," Faith ordered.

The tenth Doctor rested his forehead against his girlfriend's. "I love you, even when you're right," he told her.

Faith reached behind the tenth Doctor and pinched his butt. "Damn straight you do," she said. Faith kissed the tenth Doctor again and then walked off to join Spike at the airlock. She grabbed an assault rifle and a map from a rack off to one side. "I'll be back before bedtime," Faith promised.

Faith and Spike went into the airlock together. Once they were inside, Spike gave her a huge grin. "How about we go show this so called General Cobb what a proper undead can do?" he asked while Faith racked a round into the chamber.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Messaline**

Faith and Spike cautiously made their way through the tunnel systems towards General Cobb's encampment. Their encounters with the "contaminated ones" left them with useful tactical information. Faith found out that like in all good zombie flicks, if you mess with the brain's ability to control the body enough, the zombie ceases to function. Her short swords made quick work of slicing through their necks or piercing their brainstems. The second useful thing Faith and Spike learned was that the zombies seemed to completely ignore the vampire. At first this irritated Spike, but he quickly got over it. Spike's hands were starting to tire from all of the heads he had separated from the zombie bodies.

When they got to a bend in the tunnel they were in, Faith motioned that they should stop. "5 minute break?" she offered.

"Absolutely," Spike agreed and slid his back down the tunnel wall. He massaged the cramps out his hands. "How many zombies have we had to deal with so far?" Spike asked.

Faith closed her eyes as she tried to count how many of the walking dead she had dispatched since they left the Doctor in the garden. "I've taken out about 15 and I assume you took care of at least that many, if not more," she replied.

"Bugger, no wonder I'm start to feeling it," Spike said as he rolled his shoulders, trying to get them to relax.

"I think you're just getting soft now that you've been living with B," Faith teased him.

Spike chuckled. "Trust me, Faith. As far as Buffy and I are concerned, being soft isn't a problem," he said with a smirk.

"TMI, dude," Faith said. She cocked her head to the side when she heard footsteps coming from down a side tunnel a few meters ahead of them. She jerked her head in the direction of the sound. Spike had a curious look on his face when he held up one finger to indicate a solitary intruder. The two heroes quietly got up and took positions on tunnel opening.

After a few minutes, a blonde woman wearing a red, velvet coat that came down to her knees walked into view. Under the coat she was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a white tee shirt. Bright pink sneakers finished off the ensemble. The woman was making her way down the tunnel like a trained commando. When the young woman exited into their tunnel, she was momentarily startled by Spike's sudden movements. The vampire tried to grab her, but failed.

The blonde woman ducked under Spike's arms and then slammed her foot down onto his instep. The sudden pain in his foot was eclipsed by the supernova in his groin when the blonde woman back fisted him in the Pratt family jewels. "Bitch!" Spike squeaked and fell over.

"Hey! Pick on someone with ovaries, why don't you?" Faith yelled. She threw a punch that the other woman blocked with her forearm. The blonde woman dropped and tried to do a spinning leg sweep. Faith was used to this kind of attack and easily jumped over the kick. She threw another right punch, but this time it was feint. The blonde woman went to block the punch that never came and was rewarded with a left jab to her stomach. As all the air went out of the blonde woman's lungs, Faith grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her into the wall. The two women crashed into the side of the tunnel directly under one of the few working lights. Faith wasn't prepared for what happened next.

When Faith pressed the other woman against the wall, her attacker got a good look at her face for the first time. "Mom?" the woman said in surprise. Faith let go in shock and took a step backwards. "Mom!" the young woman squealed in happiness. She launched herself from the wall and wrapped Faith up in a big hug.

Faith looked at Spike who was just now getting back up. "Don't look at me, I think the bint's gone mental," he said. The young woman let go of Faith and squinted at Spike in the dim light.

"Spike? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home with Buffy and the kids?" the young woman asked. It was Spike's turn to look shocked. The young woman looked at his face and then more closely at Faith's. "Oh bugger," the young woman swore. "When are you?" she asked the two friends.

"Huh?" Spike asked, not understanding the question.

Luckily, Faith had been warned by the Doctor to expect that type of question from other time travelers. "A year of travelling with the tenth Doctor," Faith told the younger woman.

The blonde woman bit her lip and stepped back from Faith. "Well…this is awkward," she said. "I'm not supposed to meet up with dad again until his next regeneration," the woman said absently. "Damned paradoxes," she muttered. She shook her head and then extended her hand to Faith. "Hi, I'm Jenny…the Doctor's daughter," Jenny said.

Faith shook Jenny's hand numbly. "He thinks you're dead," Faith managed to say. After a moment, Faith's eyebrows shot up. "Hey wait…what the fuck did you mean by calling me 'mom'?" she demanded.

"Sorry, Faith, I can't explain. You know…spoilers," Jenny said lamely. "All though this explains a lot about how you acted when I met you for the first time from my perspective," she said. Jenny reached up and tapped a silver earpiece she was wearing in her right ear. "Hey Jack, you'll never guess who I ran into in the tunnels down here," she said. Jenny paused for a moment and then said, "Faith and Spike."

"Who's do you think she's talking to?" Spike asked Faith. Faith in return shrugged her shoulders.

Jenny got a weird look on her face and then turned to face Spike. "My companion wants to know if you're still dead?" she asked.

"Uh…yeah," Spike replied, mystified.

"Yeah, Jack, Spike's still a vamp which matches what Mo…I mean Faith said. They're travelling with ten," Jenny said into her communicator. "Yeah I'm glad, too," she said. "Otherwise they could be infected by the Tyrant Virus as well," Jenny said. There was another pause as Jenny listened to her companion. "No, Jack. Stay at the TARDIS and make sure that Chloe and Ianto are safe and stay inside. The biological scrubbers will keep them safe as long as they stay inside," she reminded him. "Ok…ok…I'll keep you updated," Jenny said and then signed off.

"Um…pardon me for asking, but what the hell is going on here?" Spike asked.

Jenny smiled at him and Spike thought he could see a trace of the Doctor's mischievous nature in her face. "I'm from further up the time line than you are. Your future is already my past," she explained.

"Thanks that clears everything up" Spike said sarcastically.

Faith shook her head and said, "Damn, the Doc's going to freak when he see you."

"He can't…at least not yet," Jenny said. "Like I said, the first time the Doctor saw me after my delayed regeneration doesn't happen until after he regenerates. We don't want any Belgium sized black holes to suddenly pop up, do we?" she warned.

"Belgium?" Spike asked, confused.

"Don't ask," Faith and Jenny said together.

"So let me get this straight," Faith said. "You're alive, but we can't tell the Doctor because it would cause a terrible paradox, right?" she asked.

"That's right," Jenny said.

"Fuck an A!" Faith swore. "Finally I get to hang one of those damn 'spoilers' over his head like he always does to me," she said while rubbing her hands together.

Jenny laughed and hugged Faith. "The first of many," she said cryptically.

"All right we can't ask too many questions because of a French speaking singularity," Spike said, showing he had paid attention while watching Nova. "Can we at least ask what you're doing here?" he asked.

Jenny's smile faltered. "My companions and I are tracking a temporal arms smuggler and we think he dropped off a version of the Tyrant Virus on Messaline," she explained.

"Yep, he did," Spike assured her. "Bastard must have sold it too Cobb who turned around and infected those who wanted to keep on fighting their stupid civil war," he said.

Jenny started cursing in a language Spike had never heard. Once again, the TARDIS failed to translate it for him. Faith on the other hand nodded and filed a few of the words away for future use. Jenny was swearing in High Gallifreyan. When Jenny finished, Faith corrected her grammar. "That last verb is temporal and plural sensitive," she reminded the Doctor's daughter.

Jenny cocked her head to the side. "Oh yeah, you're right," she said. Jenny repeated her cursing in High Gallifreyan, but with the proper verb inserted.

"Can someone translate for me?" Spike requested.

"Sorry, Spike, but part of that doesn't make sense in English. Basically, Jenny likes the shirt bird General as much as we do," Faith said.

"Probably even less," Jenny suggested. "He shot _me_, remember?" she asked.

"There is that," Spike conceded.

Jenny hopped up and down like an excited teenager. "So what's the plan? Something with lots of running and an unpleasant end for Cobb I hope," she asked.

Faith unfolded the map she was carrying and showed it to Jenny. Jenny turned the map around and the handed it back to Faith. She pulled back the red velvet sleeve of her jacket to show a leather armband. Jenny lifted a flap in the middle and revealed a complex looking instrument. She tapped on it a few times and a hologram representing the tunnel system appeared in front of them. "The map doesn't show the maintenance tunnels. Which are here," Jenny said and tapped a button. A second series of tunnels appeared overlaid on the first set. "If we take this next junction, we should be able to make it to Cobb's compound in less than fifteen minutes," she told.

"Rock on, Jenny," Faith said in appreciation. "Lead the way," she suggested.

As Jenny went ahead, Spike stopped Faith. "Buffy and the kids?" he asked. Faith shrugged her shoulders and jogged after the Doctor's daughter. Spike just stood there and tried to cope with the implications of what she had said. With a grin, Spike ran to catch up with the women.

**DrW**

The Doctors sat outside of a holding area made of transparent steal. Tegan had been given her own room and was resting fitfully. Her complexion had become pale and ashen and her eyes had become painfully red. Tegan woke with a jerk and looked around the room, confused. "Doctor?" she called out. The airlock into the hospice ward cycled and the fifth Doctor made his way to Tegan.

"I'm here now, Tegan," the fifth Doctor said softly. He handed Tegan a cup of water.

"Where are we, Doctor? What's wrong with me?" Tegan pleaded. She had asked the same question every time she woke up.

"We are on the planet Messaline and you have come down with a virus," the fifth Doctor explained again. "I'm working with another Doctor to come up with a cure," he reassured her.

"Ok," Tegan said sleepily. The fifth Doctor grabbed the cup before Tegan could drop it. The sedative and pain blocker he had slipped into her water had taken affect.

"Sleep now, dear Tegan," the fifth Doctor said as he covered her up with a blanket. "With two of me on the case, we _will_ find a way to save you," he promised.

The tenth Doctor waited outside of the airlock for his younger self to emerge. "You need to take a break," he said when the fifth Doctor emerged from hospice center.

"I suppose you would know, wouldn't you?" the fifth Doctor asked. "Maybe a short break with prompt our minds into coming up with a new solution," he admitted.

"Let's take a quick look for the segment," the tenth Doctor suggested.

The fifth Doctor nodded and pulled out the tracer and held it level on his palm. The blue end glowed brightly and pointed towards the center of the garden. "This way I suppose," the fifth Doctor said.

The two Doctors walked along the path in silence. When they reached the center of the garden, the tenth Doctor closed his eyes in remembered anguish. "This is where she died," he told his younger self.

"Over there, I take it," the fifth Doctor said.

The tenth Doctor looked to wear the fifth Doctor was pointing. Off to one side of the cleared grove was a lifelike statue of him and Jenny standing next to each other. On the base of the statue were the words, "The man who never would and his daughter. May we all remember his deeds and her sacrifice."

"She was quite lovely," the fifth Doctor said. "She reminds me a little of Susan's mother," he said absently. The fifth Doctor looked down at the tracer and saw it was pointing directly at the statue. He nudged his older self and indicated the tracer.

"Of course," the tenth Doctor said sullenly. "I have to erase the last monument these people have of my daughter," he said. The tenth Doctor put his hand on the tracer and gently pushed it towards the fifth Doctor's jacket. "We'll activate the segment once Faith and Spike get back with the cure," he said.

"As you wish," the fifth Doctor said. "Let's get back to the lab and see if we can come up with something new," he said and walked back towards the lab they were sharing with Cline. The fifth Doctor wasn't surprised when he noticed that he was walking back alone. He still remembered the loss he felt when Susan's mother was killed. The fifth Doctor knew that his older self would come back to the lab when he was ready.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Messaline**

The end of the maintenance tunnel was lit by a dim light tube that flickered at random intervals. The end of the tunnel was blocked by a heavy sliding door. Cobb's base of operations was just on the other side. The three champions stood in front of the door and tried to figure out how to open it.

"Do you have a sonic screwdriver like the Doctor?" Faith asked Jenny.

Jenny patted her red, velvet coat. "Never leave the TARDIS without it," Jenny assured her.

"Well, get on with the sonic magic already," Spike requested.

Jenny ran her hand over the walls next to the door. "It's not that easy," she said. "I have to have some sort of control to manipulate, and I can't find one here. The opening and locking mechanism must be on the other side," Jenny said.

"Guess that means it's up to us, Spike," Faith said, shrugging her shoulders. She put her hand on Jenny's shoulder and eased her away from the door.

"Did you guys bring some explosives?" Jenny asked excitedly while she clapped her hands.

"Not exactly," Spike said. He looked over at Faith. "You want to try what we did in the Vatican?" Spike asked the Slayer.

Faith nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking," she said. "This door can't be any thicker than the one to the restricted artifacts vault under St. Paul's," Faith estimated. Jenny watched in curiosity as the vampire and Slayer stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the door. Both had become unnaturally still. At some silent cue, Spike and Faith jumped straight up in the air. While in flight the vampire rotated to his left and Faith to her right. After completing the rotation, the two heroes kicked back with the legs closest to each other. Their feet slammed into the metal obstruction at the same instant. The combined might of Faith and Spike's jumping back-kicks buckled the door slightly at the seam where the two halves met.

"Wow!" Jenny said, impressed. She looked at the indention. "That was amazing, but the door is still shut," Jenny pointed out.

"Be ready for whatever is behind that door," Spike growled as he changed into his vampire aspect. He wedged his fingers into the small indention they had made and pulled for all he was worth. With a screech of metal, the doors slid on their tracks into the wall. Spike could hear things crunching inside the track where he had thrown the door. Faith had been right and the door hadn't been nearly as heavy as the one in the Vatican.

The solitary guard stationed at the deadlocked maintenance hatch stared like a mouse facing a pack of hungry predators. The first face he saw as the supposedly immovable door slid open was that of Saint Jenny herself, come back to Messaline to reap vengeance on those who strayed from the path her father had put out for the population of Messaline. The other two faces he saw assured him of Jenny's divinity. On one side of Saint Jenny was a yellowed hair, yellow eyed demon. The thing looked like a human, but had bony ridges on its forehead and long, sharp fangs in its mouth. The third face belonged to what the guard assumed was an angel, but he never thought angels would have such cold, fearless look in their eyes.

Spike growled at the guard who still hadn't raised his weapon. The vampire's hearing picked up on a small trickle as liquid hit the floor. Spike glanced down and saw the front of the guard's gray pants had become dark with wetness and a growing puddle of urine was forming where the liquid ran out the guard's pant leg. "Boo," Spike snarled. The guard's eyes rolled back in his head and he feinted, striking his head hard on the concrete floor. Spike raised his eyebrows, showing his satisfaction. He shifted back into human form. Spike stood in the doorway and gestured into Cobb's compound with a bow. "Ladies," he said politely.

"Why thank you, Spike," Jenny said. She gingerly walked around the puddle on the floor and stepped over the unconscious guard.

"Yep, just like the Vatican," Faith said, nodding towards the unconscious guard. Unlike the Doctor's daughter, his girlfriend simply stepped on the hapless guard on her way to follow Jenny.

Jenny walked up to a black glass panel on the wall. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gleaming, gold sonic screwdriver. Jenny activated it and waved it around the panel. The panel sprung to life and showed a map of the General's compound. "Here," Jenny said as she tapped a location on the map. "This looks like a lab and is our best bet on finding the Tyrant Virus," she pointed out. A humorless smile spread across her face. "It's also right next to Cobb's quarters," she said.

Jenny silently headed off in the right direction and was followed by two supernatural killers. When they reached the lab, they could see blurry figures of people inside. On closer inspection, they were able to make out four heavily armed guards, a lab technician, and a gray haired man in a dark gray uniform. "That's Cobb," Jenny said, indicating the gray haired man.

Spike smiled at her. "I'll make sure he lives through the begging of this," he promised her. Jenny knew that promise wouldn't have made Cobb feel any better if he knew what was coming for him.

"He just might not have the use of all his limbs," Faith added.

The three of them snuck up to the door and Jenny examined the lock. "Simple one," she whispered. "I can open it, no problem," Jenny assured her fellow heroes. She pointed her sonic screwdriver at the lock and held up three fingers. She folded down her fingers one at a time. When the last finger was pulled in to make a fist, she pressed the stud on her sonic screwdriver. The lock burst with sparks and the sliding door whooshed open.

The guards had only just registered the door had opened when two figures that would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives stormed into the room. Spike peeled off to the left and Faith went right. The Slayer grabbed the first guard's assault rifle and spun it out of his hands. She continued the motion and spun the butt of the rifle into the guard's temple, knocking him out. The other guard on her side of the room was raising his rifle to shoot at the intruders when his companion's assault rifle sailed through the air and struck him squarely on the bridge of his nose. Cartilage crushed and his head snapped back suddenly. The second guard was unconscious a fraction of a second after the first.

When Faith had grabbed the first guard's weapon, Spike rushed over to the one closest to him on the left side of the room. He moved with supernatural speed. Before the guard could figure out what was happening, he found himself sailing through the open door. He hit the far wall with a wet thud and slid down, unconscious. The final guard had focused his attention on the open door and brought up his weapon to fire at the blonde woman standing there. The vampire's fist across his jaw sent that guard into painful sleep.

The technician ducked under a table and cowered. As Cobb drew his pistol, he glanced down at the technician with contempt and then over at his greatest disappointment. "Welcome home, Jenny," he said with false sincerity. While his guards were being pummeled, Cobb had been free to raise his weapon and point it at the woman who he beleived betrayed him. With a smile of satisfaction, Cobb said, "Let's see if we can't make this one permanent." Cobb pulled the trigger and his gun went off. The General was shocked and confused when the blonde man suddenly appeared right in front of him and took the bullet meant for Jenny.

Spike glanced down at his chest where the bullet had entered his body. The General's smile faltered when the man simply said, "Damn, another shirt ruined. I should buy stock in the bloody company at the rate I go through them." The General fired twice more and saw the bullets go into the man's chest. "Will you knock that off," Spike said, more than slightly annoyed.

Faith snatched the gun out of Cobb's numb hand. "You…you should be dead," Cobb stammered.

"Already am, you stupid ponce," Spike growled.

Jenny stepped up to Cobb and stared him in the face. The look in her eyes reaffirmed the fact that she was definitely her father's daughter. Faith smiled at the similarity in their expressions when they showed their authority as Time Lords. "I have been following in my father's footsteps since we met last," Jenny told Cobb. "I have seen many beautiful and many horrible things. I have faced down my race's ancient enemy, the Daleks. They call my father the Destroyer of Worlds and the Oncoming Storm," she said slowly with a menacing cadence. "Now they have a new monster to add to their nightmares. In the language of Skaros, I am known as the Storm's Vengeance…and you _will_ tell me where your sample of the Tyrant Virus is," Jenny commanded.

Cobb's eyes darted involuntarily to a safe on the wall to his left. Faith caught this and strode over to the safe. To Cobb's horror, Faith simply grabbed the handle and tore the locking mechanism out of place. She reached in and pulled out two glowing vials. The liquid inside each vial gave off their own light. The first one was blue and the other green. Jenny walked over to Faith and checked the vial contents with her sonic screwdriver. She nodded and Faith pocketed the vials. Just as she had done that, an alarm blared through the compound.

"Sort of a delayed reaction for the safe," Faith pointed out sarcastically.

"The safe's not alarmed, you stupid bitch. That's the perimeter alarm letting us know the zombies are getting close to the compound," Cobb spat. Spike was about to break the major bones in Cobb's hands, one at a time; but he was stopped by a shake of Faith's head. She pointed to a display on the wall that had suddenly sprung to life. It showed a bunch of red dots converging on the maintenance door they had forced open.

Jenny noticed the screen too and punched a button next to it. "Attention all soldiers of Messaline. This is Jenny and if you know what's good for you I suggest that you all run to the south entrance. Your northern perimeter has been compromised," she said sweetly. Faith ran off in the direction of the maintenance door as fast as a Slayer could run; right after she handed Cobb's gun to Spike. Jenny ran after her so she could organize the compound's evacuation. This left Spike alone with Cobb.

"Where are they going?" Cobb asked.

"We forced open that door where all the pretty red lights are headed to," Spike answered. "We also left one of your guards napping in a puddle of his own pee, so I guess Faith just went back to rescue the poor sod," he said. "As for Jenny, if she's anything like her father, she's probably coming up with something brilliant," Spike said.

Cobb's face blanched when he looked at the screen and saw how many zombies were going to invade his compound. "We need to get out of here before the zombies reach us," he pleaded.

"Yeah…about that," Spike said, rocking on his heels. "I'm not like the Doctor," he said. Spike Knocked Cobb back onto a table and grabbed a metal piece of equipment nearby. The vampire rammed the piece of metal through Cobb's thigh and into the table, pinning the General there like a butterfly specimen.

"What are you doing?" Cobb screamed as he tried to pull his leg free.

While Cobb worked in vain to free himself, Spike held up the General's gun. He pulled the magazine out and emptied the chamber. Spike thumbed all but one bullet out of the magazine before putting it back into the gun. He racked the slide, seating the lone bullet in the chamber. "Here you go, mate," Spike said cheerily as he handed the gun to a wide eyed Cobb. "Better than you deserve, but what can I say. I'm just a big softie since I got my soul back," Spike confided. With that he left General Cobb alone, pinned to a table with a zombie horde rapidly approaching.

Spike caught up with Faith and Jenny at the south doors. All of Cobb's soldiers were huddled on the far side of the entrance. The soldiers were looking at Jenny with awe and reverence on their faces. "Shall we?" Spiked asked, indicating the doors.

"We shall," Jenny said. Both she and Faith linked arms with Spike and they walked into the tunnel. When the doors slid shut behind them, Jenny turned around them and gave the locking mechanism on that side of the door a blast with her sonic screwdriver. With a gesture, she locked the doors in place. She turned around again and spoke to Faith and Spike.

"It's been terribly fun," Jenny said in a bubbly tone. "I wish I could go with you to see my Dad, but he doesn't meet me again for a while," she said, her tone growing somber.

Faith snapped her fingers as an idea hit her. "Maybe you can," she said cryptically. "Just come with us to right outside the Great Garden," she suggested.

DrW

The tenth Doctor leaned back from the microscope he was using and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's no use. Without a sample of the anti-virus or even the virus itself, we can't synthesize an antidote," he said.

"You mean like these?" Faith said, startling the two Doctors. She was holding up the glowing vials.

"Outstanding work, Faith," the fifth Doctor noted. "Hand me the vials and I can make an antidote," he said.

Faith gave the vials to the tenth Doctor instead. "Doc here can manage it. Spike needs _you_ in the airlock tunnel," she said.

The fifth Doctor gave Faith a questioning glance, but conceded. "Do hurry with that," he told his older self and went out in search of Spike.

The Doctor checked the vials over and placed both of them into a machine resting on a table. "I should have large doses of the antidote ready within minutes," he told Faith. A dark thought crossed his mind. "What happened with Cobb?" he asked carefully.

"I can honestly say he was alive when we left him," Spike said as he snuck into the room. "After that, things were left in Cobb's hands," he said. There was something in Spike's tone that told the Doctor he didn't want to know more.

"If you're here…why did Faith send me off to look for you in the airlock tunnel?" the tenth Doctor asked, clearly confused.

Faith slid up to her boyfriend and put her finger on his lips. "Shush…spoilers," she said, turning the concept against him. With a deep sigh, the tenth Doctor shook his head and checked on the antidote production.

The fifth Doctor stepped through the airlock into the tunnel beyond. He craned his neck to look around for his older self's vampire friend. "Spike?" the fifth Doctor called out.

"He's inside with Faith," a young woman's voice called out. Jenny stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the fifth Doctor.

The fifth Doctor recognized the striking young woman from her statue. "Jenny?" he asked in confusion.

"Delayed regeneration," Jenny said, answering his next question before he could ask it. "And no, your older self can't come out here to see me," she said, guessing at what he might ask. "You don't meet me again until 11," Jenny explained.

"But I won't remember this meeting because the TARDIS will erase just about everything about this journey from _my_ mind," the fifth Doctor said, catching on. "I suppose you helped Faith and Spike recover the virus and anti-virus," he said.

"Yep," Jenny said, popping the last "P".

The fifth Doctor bowed to his future daughter. "You have my thanks. I'm proud of the woman you have become," he said. The fifth Doctor saw the glint of a tear at the corner of Jenny's eye. He held out his arms wide and his future daughter ran to him. The fifth Doctor held Jenny in his arms.

"I miss you so much some times," she whispered while she hugged her father. A playful smile played across her lips. Jenny pulled her father's head down towards her and she whispered something about his future self and Faith.

"Are you serious?" the fifth Doctor said in shock.

"Yep," Jenny said. She pulled herself out of her father's embrace, winked at him, and ran off to her TARDIS.

The fifth Doctor chuckled. "What did I get myself into?" he asked, referring to the tenth Doctor.

When the fifth Doctor managed to get to the hospice ward, he found that the tenth Doctor was already there. Tegan was sitting up in bed and looking infinitely better. She saw him and yelled out, "Doctor!"

"Feeling better, are we?" the fifth Doctor asked brightly.

"Much, but I'm really hazy about how we got here," Tegan admitted.

"You'll be feeling right as rain in no time," the fifth Doctor assured her. "Spike and Faith will get you back to the TARDIS while Skinny and I retrieve the first segment," he said.

"Oi!" the tenth Doctor protested. The fifth Doctor took him by the arm and lead him to the center of the Great Garden. Once there, the tenth Doctor said, "Let's get this over with."

The fifth Doctor took out the tracer and touched the brightly glowing blue end of the pointer to the statue of the Doctor and Jenny. In a flash, the statue disappeared to be replaced by a small fragment of the Key of Time and the blue end of the pointer went back to a dull glow. As the tenth Doctor picked up the segment off of the ground, he noticed his younger self smiling smugly.

"What?" the tenth Doctor asked.

The fifth Doctor's smile grew wider and he pat his older self on the back. As they walked back to the TARDIS, "Spoilers," was all the fifth Doctor would say.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**TARDIS**

Adric, Nyssa, and Buffy stood near the center console of the TARDIS. Adric had been able to decode enough of the spell's source code so that the TARDIS was able to slow Dawn's unraveling. The two companions of the fifth Doctor had managed to convince Buffy to leave the medical wing while Dawn slept.

"So…are you and Spike full time Companions?" Nyssa asked Buffy, trying to ease into a conversation.

Buffy chuckled wryly. "No, he's just a very good friend of ours," she replied. "I don't think the Doctor could handle two Slayers on board for very long," Buffy said. "Faith and I would be at each other's throats after the first week," she admitted.

Nyssa looked a little confused. "I thought you and Faith got a long pretty well," she observed.

"We do, just as long as we don't spend _too_ much together," Buffy said. "Eventually our prime Slayer instincts take over and we fight to see who gets to be in charge," she said.

"What exactly is a 'Slayer'?" Adric asked.

Buffy sat down on the airline seat attached to the railings and thought about how to answer that question. When the Doctor had stormed into her life, everything she thought she knew about the origins of the Slayers turned out to be lies given out by the forerunners of the Watchers. A small smile tugged on the corners of Buffy's mouth. Thanks to their alien friend, she now knew the truth. "Slayers is actually short for Vampire Slayers. A Time Lord called the Other created genetically modified warriors to fight the vampire-slave race left on Earth after the Vampire King visited," she told them.

"You're a genetically altered human?" Adric asked, showing his total lack of interpersonal skills. Nyssa hit Adric in the arm. "Ouch!" he said as he rubbed the sore spot.

"Sorry…we usually don't let him talk to other people very often," Nyssa apologized.

"It's ok, he sort of reminds me of a guy I work with named Andrew," Buffy said.

Nyssa decided to ask the next question before Adric could stick his foot in his mouth again. "Obviously you and Faith are both women. Are there any male Slayers?" she asked.

"Nope," Buffy answered. "Faith and I had a little metaphysical visit with the Other and he told us that he wasn't all that great at genetic manipulation. The Other was only able to link the super powers to the X chromosome," she said. "It's all good though. Men would have just misused the Slayer abilities anyway," Buffy said, winking at Nyssa.

Adric looked insulted. He was about to defend his sex when the doors to the TARDIS opened and the away team consisting of the Doctors, Faith, Spike, and Tegan came in. Spike was practically holding Tegan up on her feet.

"What happened to Tegan?" Nyssa asked, worried about her friend.

"Oh…it's nothing really," the fifth Doctor said as he put his hat on the hat rack. "A spot of tea and she'll be right as rain," he suggested.

"Nothing to worry about," the tenth Doctor added as he walked up the catwalk to the center console. "Tegan just contracted a virus that was killing her and would have ended up turning her into a flesh eating zombie," he said. Nyssa looked at the group that had ventured outside, trying to figure out if the tenth Doctor was joking. Buffy just nodded her head as if it were something she dealt with on a daily basis. (In reality, Buffy usually only had to deal with flesh eating zombies on something resembling a bi-weekly schedule.)

The fifth Doctor smiled as Tegan eased herself onto the seat next to Buffy. "Spike and Faith managed to procure a sample of both the virus and antivirus. Synthesizing an antidote was really quite simple after that," he said. The fifth Doctor purposefully left out the part about his future daughter helping out. He didn't want to ruin his surprise once he reached his 11th incarnation.

"Doctor, what's a zombie?" Adric asked. Both of the Doctors ran their hands through their hair at the same time.

Spike was flabbergasted. He pointed at the young man wearing the patchwork clothes. "He's not serious, is he?" Spike asked. He looked at Adric. "With the Doctor's track record, I would have thought you would have seen plenty by now," Spike said.

"Problems with the occasional zombie?" the fifth Doctor asked his older self.

The tenth Doctor inhaled loudly through his teeth. "Yeah…I suppose you could say that," he admitted. Ever since he had changed into 9, he had been dealing with zombie like creatures with alarming frequency.

"Did you get what we came here for?" Buffy asked eager to move on to the next segment.

"Right," the Doctors said in unison, slightly embarrassed by their absent minded nature. The tenth Doctor pulled out a small, slightly opaque cube about three inches on a side. The corner of one side of the cube was cut off to form a quarter of a cylinder. It was easy to see that four such segments could be placed together to make a larger cube with a shaft down the center.

Once the tenth Doctor pulled the segment out of his jacket, Faith noticed a third catwalk had appeared leading from the center control area to a door she had never seen before. "I thought old Blue had keyed all of the perception filters so they wouldn't work with me," she complained to her boyfriend.

"Hum?" the tenth Doctor asked, confused. Faith walked up to him and turned him around so that he could see the new catwalk and door.

Faith saw the slightly surprised look on the tenth Doctor's face. "That wasn't a perception filter, was it?" she asked. "That really wasn't here just a moment ago," Faith said rhetorically.

The tenth Doctor shook his head. "Oh…that's where she left it. I always wondered what she did with it when we weren't using it," he muttered.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Faith asked him, only slightly annoyed.

"The segment room," the fifth Doctor answered before the tenth had a chance to speak. "It's where we store the segments while search for the others," he said. "Each segment by itself is a very powerful artifact. When they come in to contact with the others, their power grows exponentially," he explained. "The TARDIS had to create a room with shields heavy enough to keep the energies from affecting her. Since we don't have the occasion to use it very often, I suspect the TARDIS stores it in a tangent universe to keep her from being cluttered," the fifth Doctor said.

Buffy took a long look at the cube in the tenth Doctor's hand. "Let's get the Rubik's cube tucked in and get on with things. Dawn isn't getting any better," she reminded everyone.

"I'm sorry, my dear. Even as a Time Lord, I still lose track of time every now and then," the fifth Doctor said. He walked up the third catwalk with his other self and opened the door. Inside was a plain 10' x 10' gray room. The only thing in the room was a gray metal table directly in the center. He watched as the tenth Doctor reverently put the segment on the table. "Where to next?" the fifth Doctor asked.

"How would I know?" the tenth Doctor replied. "You have the tracer," he reminded the fifth Doctor.

The fifth Doctor pulled the tracer out of his jacket. "So I do, sorry old chap," he said. They quickly walked down the catwalk to the center console. The fifth Doctor placed the tracer in the console. He flipped several switches and threw the flight lever. The Time Rotor began to rise and fall in time with the dematerialization sounds. The fifth Doctor looked at the coordinates and frowned. "I don't remember ever being to that particular planet before," he mused.

The tenth Doctor looked over the fifth Doctor's shoulder. "New one to me too. Well…I suppose I have been there before since you're going, but obviously I don't remember it," he said. "Off to the library, shall we?" the tenth Doctor asked.

"Is it still near the pool?" the fifth Doctor asked.

"Of course it is. I don't think I'll ever quit enjoying a nice book by the pool," the tenth Doctor answered. "Even after 2 dropped his Kindle in the hot tub,' he said, sharing the embarrassing memory with his younger self.

The two Doctors walked into the library followed by their Companions. "I don't know what was more embarrassing…dropping that damned E-reader when I saw Jamie in those Speedos or the fact that I was reading Twilight at the time," the fifth Doctor chuckled.

Faith snickered. "Wow, I guess 2 really was gay," she said. The tenth Doctor winked at her.

Buffy turned her head from side to side and tried to wrap her head around how many books there were in this place. "No wonder Giles had a nerdgasm the first time we were in the TARDIS," she whispered to husband.

"So what's the plan? Do we split up and start looking for books, or do we go in teams?" Spike asked the Doctors.

The tenth Doctor looked around and for the first time in ages thought about how vast his collection had grown. He gestured with his arm in a broad sweeping motion. "These are all for pleasure," the tenth Doctor said. Buffy gasped at the thought. "For work, we just have to come over here," the tenth Doctor said. He led them to a table in the center of the lobby. The table sat in the middle of a large white tiled circle. On the old wood table was an even older looking manual typewriter.

"Riiiight," Buffy said sarcastically.

The fifth Doctor frowned at her and typed in the coordinates the segment tracer had provided. Instantly, the area occupied by the tile circle was filled with a blue holographic map representing the sphere of influence of the Time Lords. The tenth Doctor made gestures with his hands and arms. The map zoomed into first one galaxy and then again on a particular solar system. Ellipses appeared showing orbits of six planets were displayed. The second planet was highlighted. Pages of information written in High Gallifreyan flashed next to the planet at roughly five per second. After several minutes the pages of information stopped flashing and only the model of the solar system remained.

"Enough with the suspense," Faith said. "Where are we going?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor stepped into the holographic map and pointed at the second planet. "Here," he said. "We're going to the second planet in the Polaris system. It has Earth like atmosphere and gravity," the tenth Doctor explained. "The planet is a bit unusual in the fact that its axis is tilted nearly 45 degrees from the plane of its orbit," he said. "It looks like we will be landing on the northern hemisphere during its summer. Sorry Spike, but you'll have to wait this one out," the tenth Doctor informed his friend.

"Why can't Spike leave the TARDIS?" Tegan asked.

Spike stepped forward and pointed at the planet. "Same reason why Alaska and Northern Canada aren't vampire vacation hot spots during the summer. Too many hours of sunlight and not enough of darkness," he explained. Spike looked over at the tenth Doctor. "How many hours of sunlight are we talking about?" he asked.

The tenth Doctor looked at the model and then glanced at the ceiling as he did the calculations. "Polaris 2 has a 26 hour day. At that tilt and considering we'll be there in late Spring…I would say we're in for about 25 ½ hours of daylight," he replied.

"Right," Spike said as he clapped his hands. "Looks like I'll be able to spend some quality time with my wife," he said.

"Afraid not, Spike," the fifth Doctor said. "If Buffy's abilities are similar to Faith's, then we will probably end up needing her," he told he blonde vampire.

Buffy squared her shoulders. "What are we facing this time…demons, rabid robot monkeys, door to door salesmen?" she asked.

"The local population are referred to as Ursanoids," the tenth Doctor said as he gestured with his hand in the hologram. A picture of what looked like a bipedal bear wearing rough, homespun clothing swam into view.

"They look adorable," Nyssa said.

Tegan squinted at the hologram. "What's the catch?" she asked. The tenth Doctor made another motion with his hand and an image of a human sprang to life next to the Ursanoid. The human only came up to the large bear's chest. Circles appeared around the paws and muzzle of the Ursanoid. Enlarged pictures sprang out from the hologram showing huge, razor sharp claws and teeth obviously designed for tearing meat from its prey.

"On the other hand…" Nyssa hedged as she looked at the claws.

Spike pulled Buffy to him and kissed her cheek. "Go…have fun. I'll look after the niblet while you're gone," he told his bride.

**Polaris 2**

A small furry quadruped with a single horn above its eyes sat happily munching on a flower inside a small clearing in the great forest. The animal dropped the stem and propped up its mobile ears when it heard the materializing noises of the TARDIS a few feet away. The rush of suddenly displaced air convinced the horned animal to hop away.

The doors to the TARDIS opened and the tenth Doctor poked his head out. He squinted in the harsh daylight and pulled out his sunglasses. The tenth Doctor took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "Little bit more oxygen and a little less nitrogen that what you are used to, but everyone should be fine," he told the Companions. The tenth Doctor walked out and began looking at the huge trees all around them. Nyssa and the fifth Doctor were the next ones out. Tegan had decided that she would rather rest up a bit from nearly dying and Adric was still working on decoding the source code for Dawn's spell. Buffy and Faith were the last ones to come out. When the door was shut, Faith squeezed her key through her shirt and the light on top of the TARDIS flashed twice.

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Something smells funny here," she said. "Not bad…just weird," Buffy tried to explain.

The tenth Doctor smiled at her as he looked up from a grass clipping he had obtained with a pair of scissors. "That's clean air you're smelling," he told her.

A surprised look came across Buffy's face. "So that's what it smells like," the native Californian said.

The fifth Doctor pulled the tracer out of his pocket and everyone watched as the blue end of the tube pointed in the direction of a game trail. "Shall we?" he asked and started down the trail. Buffy stopped him by putting her hand on his chest.

"Not so fast, celery guy," Buffy said. "We don't know what's down that trail. We don't even know what's around that first bend down there," she pointed out. "Faith and I will go scout ahead. Give us a few minutes and then you can start down the trail," Buffy told him. Before the fifth Doctor could argue, Buffy and Faith ran off into the forest, silent as only true predators can be.

Faith and Buffy had been running for 15 minutes and neither one of them was showing any sign of strain. They came to a halt when they heard a large animal moving through the bushes about 30 yards to their right. Faith looked at Buffy who just nodded once. The two Slayers crept cautiously in the direction they heard the noises. As they got closer, they could hear occasional deep growls coming from the other side of a small hill between them and whatever was making the noises.

The Slayers reached the top of the hill and froze as they tried to process what they were seeing. A few yards away was a large brown Ursanoid reading a bear sized newspaper. He was sitting with his backside hanging off of a fallen tree. His crude leather trousers were bunched around his ankles.

Buffy couldn't help herself. She started giggling. Faith elbowed Buffy and whispered, "I guess that answers that rhetorical question."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Buffy couldn't help herself. She started giggling. Faith elbowed Buffy and whispered, "I guess that answers that rhetorical question." This only made Buffy laugh louder.

The answer to the age old question looked up from his paper when he heard the laughing. The Ursanoid looked over the top of his paper at the two diminutive human females. "For the love of Paddington…can't a guy poop in peace?" he groused.

Buffy looked at the situation from his perspective and was slightly embarrassed for the furry alien. Turning around and pulling on Faith's arm to do the same, Buffy said, "Sorry, we'll give you some privacy."

The Ursanoid nearly fell over in shock. He hurriedly pulled up his trousers. "You…you…can talk," the Ursanoid stammered. Buffy and Faith turned around to look at the confused alien once again. "I mean, you can talk with out one of those dangling translator box thingies your kind wears," he corrected himself. The Ursanoid folded up his paper and laid it down on the log next to him. "Anyway…it was awfully civilized of you to let me put my pants back on before shooting me," the Ursanoid said.

"Huh?" Faith asked.

"Yeah, what she said," Buffy added.

The Ursanoid looked back and forth between the human women. "Isn't that what you humans do when you find a rebel Ursanoid," he said challengingly.

Faith shook her head in disgust. "One of the worst things that I've learned traveling with the Doc is that even after we get to the stars, humans can still be a bunch of assholes," she told Buffy. Faith made eye contact with the Ursanoid. "We don't want to fight and we promise not to hurt you as long as you don't give us a reason to," she told him.

The Ursanoid cocked his head to the side. "Really?" he asked. When the slayers both nodded their heads, the alien looked even more confused. His head shot up and he sniffed the air. The Ursanoid looked at the women and bared his fangs. "More of you coming," he growled. "Are you two the bait to lure me into a trap?" he asked.

Buffy held up her hands palm out to try and ease the situation. "Like Faith said, we don't want to hurt you and I can guarantee our friends won't either," she promised.

The Ursanoid let his massive shoulders relax a little when he saw the rest of this strange group crest the hill. There was another human female and two…something else. He took a deeper sniff of the air and came to the conclusion that the two human looking males were nothing of the sort.

"What do we have here?" the fifth Doctor asked. He and the tenth Doctor both put on their brainy specs. The two Doctors walked up to the huge alien as if they hadn't a fear in the world. The Ursanoid blinked in surprise at how calm everyone but the latest human female smelled.

The tenth Doctor stepped back from his examination of the Ursanoid. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he told the alien.

"So am I," the fifth Doctor chimed in, ending his examination and stepping so he could be side by side with his older self.

The tenth Doctor noticed the look of total bafflement on the Ursanoids face. "Long story," he muttered.

"I must have eaten some bad berries because this is getting really weird," the Ursanoid muttered to himself.

"Hey Doc," Faith said, getting her boyfriend's attention. "The big guy was under the impression that because we were human, we were going to shoot him for being a rebel Ursanoid," she explained.

The fifth Doctor took off his straw hat and began fanning himself with it. "Some things never seem to change, do they?" he asked the tenth Doctor.

"Afraid not," the tenth Doctor replied. He glanced down at the dirt and shrubs between the Ursanoid and the Slayers. "From the looks of things, you made no attempt to fight with Faith or B," the tenth Doctor pointed out. "That leads me to believe that you are a peaceful person. Since you are peaceful by nature, I will just assume the humans have been acting true to form and cocked up another planet," he said.

"Sorry Buffy," the fifth Doctor apologized. "It looks like we are going to have to fix things on this planet before we can leave," he said.

Buffy sighed. "I know, it's what champions are supposed to do," she said.

"Thank you, B," the tenth Doctor said, flashing his manic smile at her. He knew using Faith's nickname for her still bugged her. The tenth Doctor smiled at the Ursanoid and gestured at his younger self. "I…I mean we…come to think about it, it still is 'I' but that gets a little complicated, want to help sort out whatever problem the humans have created here," he rambled.

The Ursanoid pinched the sides of his muzzle with one massive paw. "You're making my head hurt," he said. "Tell you what, how about you come with me and talk with the elders and we can let them figure you guys out?" the Ursanoid offered.

"We would be delighted to," the fifth Doctor said. The large Ursanoid turned and started walking down another trail. He beckoned with his arm for the others to follow. Buffy immediately went after him. Faith put her hand in the tenth Doctor's hand and the two of them followed the Buffy. The fifth Doctor motioned for Nyssa to follow them and he followed Nyssa. The tenth Doctor smiled as he heard his younger self whistling the tune to "Teddy Bears' Picnic" from the rear of the party.

The Ursanoid led the Doctors and their Companions into the foothills of an impressive mountain range. Smoke billowed out of the occasional crevice indicating that the mountains they were headed for were actually semi-active volcanoes. The party reached a small valley with steep sides. A crude wooden door was set into the right hand slope. The Ursanoid opened the door and continued down a tunnel that led straight into the mountain. While the large alien had to stoop to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, the others walked along with ample clearance.

Faith wasn't prepared for what she saw when the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. What she had been expecting was a dingy cave like the kind bears from Earth hibernated in. This cavern was nothing of the sort. The walls had been polished and reflected the light of the torches that were spaced evenly about the room. Huge tables and chairs made to scale for the Ursanoids filled up most of the floor. About half of the seats were occupied by curios Ursanoids. A long wooden counter polished to a warm, golden brown color dominated the far wall. A solitary Ursanoid stood behind the bar, wiping it off with a rag. "We're in a fucking pub," Faith exclaimed.

Their Ursanoid guide looked at her funny. "Of course it's a pub, where else would the elders be hanging out?" he asked her.

"Doc, you're the one who handles negotiations around here, you talk with them. I'm going to order up whatever passes for beer in these parts," Faith told her boyfriend.

The tenth Doctor let go of her hand and smiled at her. He knew Faith wanted a beer, but more importantly, she wanted an excuse to walk through the pub and size up any potential dangers. The tenth Doctor loved the fact that Faith was able to multitask so well.

When Buffy heard Faith tell the tenth Doctor that she was off to grab a beer, Buffy gave an involuntary shudder. "Beer bad," she said automatically. Buffy saw the fifth Doctor open his mouth to ask a question. "I had a really bad experience with beer my freshman year of college," she answered his unasked question.

The Ursanoid they had met in the forest walked up to a table where five other hulking, bear like aliens sat. All of them were looking at the newcomers with surprise. When their guide finished telling the elders about how they met, the Ursanoids at the table chuckled at how his daily constitutional had been interrupted. A black furred Ursanoid stood up from the table and walked towards the newcomers. "Welcome to the Under-mountain Pub," the Ursanoid said. "My name is Dan and I wanted to thank you for not killing my son James," the leader of the elders said.

The Doctors bowed to Dan in unison. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm the Doctor," they both said. The tenth Doctor gave his younger self a dirty look. "Will you knock that off?" he asked.

"Sorry," the fifth Doctor replied cheekily. The fifth Doctor turned towards the rest of their group. "The blond woman is Buffy and the brunette wearing the blue dress is Nyssa. The young woman ordering up what I assume to be fermented beverages is called Faith," he said, making introductions.

Dan nodded and pointed at the Ursanoid sitting at the elder table in turn. "The guy with the spot of white fur on his chest is my brother Steve. His wife Beth is sitting next to him," he said. Beth was only slightly smaller than her husband, Steve. She was covered in light brown fur. Steve had black fur like his brother. "Next to Beth is my wife Mary and next to her is her cousin, Trevor," Dan said, finishing his introductions of the elders. Mary was a deep chocolate color and Trevor's fur was the color of fresh honey.

"Hold up a minute," Buffy said. She looked at the tenth Doctor. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that an alien species half way across the galaxy have names like 'Dan, Trevor, and Steve'?" Buffy asked.

"Hey, your name's Buffy and you don't hear us complaining," Trevor said.

The tenth and fifth Doctor chuckled. "Of course that's not what they're names actually sound like," the fifth Doctor said. "The Ursanoid language is made up of growls and snarls. The language is so different from yours that the TARDIS is translating their names into English names based upon how frequently that name is used," he explained.

"We can process more information than you can, so we hear both the original language and the TARDIS translation," the tenth Doctor said. "It really is a fascinating language, all though I'm having a bit of a hard time making sense of the verb tenses," he said.

While Dan was taking the whole conversation in, he breathed deep and analyzed the smells coming off the aliens. The human woman getting a beer and the one with the yellow hair had no fear scent on them at all, unlike the one wearing the blue clothes. From the excited smell coming off the two males, one would think they were cubs let loose in a candy store. Dan could smell that the ones calling themselves 'the Doctor' were definitely not human. He took another deep breath through his nose and realized that for the most part, the scent given off by the Doctors was identical. Even twin cubs had a bigger difference in scents than these two shared.

Dan motioned for Trevor to pull up another table next to theirs, indicating that he trusted these newcomers, even if three of them were human. Trevor nodded in agreement, and pulled the table next to them over so that it touched the one he was at.

Dan looked at the bartender who was having a lively discussion with the petite human ordering drinks. "Whatever they want, Bill," Dan said. "They are our guests and we'll cover their expenses with the general fund," he told the bartender. "Besides, it's not like these little fellows could eat very much anyway," Dan laughed.

Halfway through the dinner made up of bread, cheese, and a vegetable stew, Dan was forced to reconsider his comment about them not eating much. The human known as Nyssa ate what he expected a human might, but Buffy and Faith put away food like a full grown Ursanoid. The Doctors tried to keep up, but their appetites were no match for Buffy and Faith's.

The tenth Doctor belched loudly, drawing chuckles from everyone at the table. "Excuse me," he said. The tenth Doctor folded up his crude napkin and placed it next to his stew bowl. "That was excellent, thank you," he said. The tenth Doctor leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands. "When Faith and B first met your son James, he thought they were going to shoot him for being a rebel. Why is that?" he asked.

Dan pushed his empty bowl away. "James made an honest error," he said. "Up until now, the only humans we see outside of the city are bounty hunters looking to collect on our pelts," Dan explained.

"That's horrible," Nyssa said.

"That's what we think as well," Dan agreed.

The tenth Doctor probed some more. "Can you tell me what the humans mean by calling you rebels?" he asked. "I'm assuming that there is another faction of Ursanoids working with the humans," the tenth Doctor added. He heard low growls coming from the Ursanoids at the mention of the other faction.

"Those butchering heathen," Trevor spat. Dan placed a calming paw on the younger Ursanoid's shoulder. Trevor looked at his cousin's husband and sighed. "Sorry, Dan, but you know how I feel about the breaking of the holy laws," he apologized.

"It's OK, Trevor. I feel the same way," Dan reassured his friend. Dan looked at the tenth Doctor and said, "Our holy laws state that all life is sacred. If you must take another life, you should do it with your own claws, without the aid of any tools."

"Our laws do allow for the killing of other creatures for food," Trevor added. "However, the law is very firm. If you kill it, you have to eat it. That way the death is not in vain," he said. "That was never a problem for the clans until the humans came along and tried to force 'civilization' on us," Trevor said with disgust.

Buffy shook her head sadly. "I see where this going," she said. "Let me guess, the humans hunted for sport and used guns to do it," Buffy said.

"Yep, you got it," Dan said. "Most of us felt that what they were doing was an abomination, but after we killed off a few humans, we decided to let your kind be," he said.

"What made you stop killing the humans?" Faith asked.

The collected Ursanoids cringed at the awful memory. "We eat what we kill, and well…you guys taste like shit," Trevor admitted.

"I had to use a whole gallon of redberry sauce to choke down the last one," Steve said, grimacing.

Nyssa's complexion turned a bit green at the thought of humans being cooked. The fifth Doctor ignored her squeamishness. "I think that is a wonderful way of living, very responsible" he said. "I take it not all of the Ursanoids follow your laws like you do," the fifth Doctor said.

Trevor snorted. "Many of the younger Ursanoids liked how easy it was to bring down a kill with a weapon. It was a slippery slope from there to killing for sport like the humans," he said. "The humans said that the Ursanoids that were working with them were the legitimate government of the planet and any of us who opposed them were rebels," Trevor explained. "The humans even went and built a huge city on top of the area where the clans used to meet once a year for trade and festival," he said.

The fifth Doctor and pulled out the tracer and was looking at it under the table. He pointed in the direction the blue end was facing. "Let me guess, the city is that way," the fifth Doctor said.

Dan closed his eyes and thought about how the room was oriented. When he opened his eyes, he nodded his large muzzle. "Yeah, that's exactly where the city is," Dan said, confirming the fifth Doctor's hunch.

"At least we know where we are headed next," the tenth Doctor chimed in. He saw Nyssa yawn and realized that they had been walking for most of the day. "We'll head out right after we have a rest," the tenth Doctor said.

"Sounds like a good plan," Dan said, yawning himself. The difference between his yawn and Nyssa's was that his showed a tremendous amount of razor sharp teeth. "We have sleeping rooms further down the tunnel that you folks are welcome to," Dan said.

Mary put her paw on top of her husband's. "Don't forget about the hot springs," she said reminded him. Mary looked at the smaller aliens. "Ursanoids travel for days to come to Under-mountain to soak in our hot springs," she added. "Take the first tunnel to your left past the sleeping quarters and you will find the hot springs. There are a couple of large pools and several smaller, secluded pools if any of you are mated couple and want some privacy," Mary said.

The tenth Doctor sat straight up as Faith placed a hand on the inside of his thigh. "That sounds quite lovely, thank you," he said quickly. His younger self grinned at him with amusement a just a bit of envy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9****  
****Polaris 2**

Faith didn't wait for the others. She had only one thing on her mind, her lovely Doctor. Taking his hand, Faith led the tenth Doctor past the sleeping chambers to hot springs pools. Faith ignored the first several chambers, planning on finding one where they wouldn't be disturbed. When she was certain they were far enough down the tunnel, Faith chose a side chamber at random. The pool she ended up choosing was slightly smaller than the control room of the TARDIS. Only four torches lined the wall, giving the room enough light to see by, but still dark enough to add intimacy to the atmosphere.

"Have I told you that I love you recently," the tenth Doctor asked as he spun Faith into his arms.

Faith wrapped her arms around the tenth Doctor's neck. "Not since we got up this morning," she replied.

"I must be getting forgetful in my old age," the tenth Doctor said as he pulled Faith even closer for a kiss. After a long, passionate kiss, the tenth Doctor put his mouth next to Faith's ears and whispered, "I love you, Faith Lehane."

"Damn straight, spaceman," Faith teased. She took a step back from the tenth Doctor and slowly pulled off her tight, red tank top. Faith tossed her shirt onto a large stone bench that rested against the wall. She stepped forward and slid the tenth Doctor's jacket off of his shoulders and then tossed it next to her shirt. The tenth Doctor slipped of his tie and tossed it onto the growing pile of clothes. Faith took her time unbuttoning his shirt. After each button was undone, she took time to place a kiss on the newly exposed skin. When his shirt was completely open, Faith stepped forward again and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, pressing her naked chest against his.

The tenth Doctor put one hand don Faith's waist and cupped the back of her head with the other. He kissed her again while he ran his fingers through her long, dark hair. The tenth Doctor couldn't fight the smile that came over him when he felt Faith's hands undoing his belt and trousers. He moved his hands to the front and did the same thing for Faith. Soon after, the Slayer and the Time Lord stood completely naked in each other's arms. Faith was the first to break their embrace and led the tenth Doctor into the water.

The water was very hot, so hot that it would have been uncomfortable for a normal human. Faith's Slayer resistance to pain made the water feel just right. The tenth Doctor sighed as he let heat soak into his body. Faith motioned with her finger for him to come closer to her. At that very moment, the tenth Doctor couldn't think of anything that he wanted to do more. He followed her instructions and soon they were making love in the torch lit chamber.

When they finished making love, Faith rested with her back pressed against her lover while they relaxed in the pool. "Tell me about 5," she asked.

"I hate to say this, but he was always my favorite," the tenth Doctor said. "He is where I got the idea of wearing trainers and doing so much running," he said. "Oh, I loved being him. He was the first of my regenerations to give up on looking old and distinguished," the tenth Doctor mused. "I had finally decided that I didn't give a damn what the Universe thought and that I was going to look and act however I pleased," he laughed.

Faith rested her head on the tenth Doctor's shoulder and nuzzled his neck. "Confident and cute, great combination," she said. "Reminds me a lot of the latest model," she whispered.

"I was also quite the political power back then," the tenth Doctor said. "It was when I was him that I was named President Elect of Gallifrey," he said with mock solemnity.

Faith pushed off the tenth Doctor so she could look him in the eyes. "Get the fuck out…you were the President of Gallifrey?" she asked in surprise. The tenth Doctor started to get out of the pool, teasing Faith on her word choice. Faith punched him in the arm, causing him to laugh. "Seriously, _you_were in charge of your planet?" she asked.

"Oi! When you say it like that, you make it seem like it's hard to believe," the tenth Doctor said.

Faith gave him a stern look. "That's like saying I would make a good President of the United States. Not really a good idea," she told him.

The tenth Doctor swam over to Faith and wrapped his arms around her. "I think you would make a wonderful leader," he whispered in her ear.

Smiling at his praise, Faith pushed him away. "Don't change the subject," she said. "Were you really the President of Gallifrey?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor looked a little sheepish. "Err…actually, no. I was only the President Elect," he said. "I refused to stay on Gallifrey long enough for them to make it official and saddle me with responsibilities," the tenth Doctor admitted.

"So…are you still the President Elect then?" Faith asked.

Chuckling, the tenth Doctor said, "Oh no, I took care of that. I named Romana as my Vice President elect and then abdicated the very same day." The tenth Doctor put on a comical, distressed look on his face. "Couldn't really see myself in an office job," he admitted.

Faith laughed with him. "I'm glad you prefer the more adventurous life," she said.

"That's one way of describing living with you," the tenth Doctor teased. He spluttered when Faith splash water in his face. When the water barrage stopped, the Doctor smiled lovingly at his girlfriend. "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

"Damn straight, spaceman," Faith repeated and went into his arms again.

**DrW**

The fifth Doctor was pacing back and forth in the main room of the pub. "Where am I? I should be here by now," he complained. He had just watched Buffy beat Trevor in an arm wrestling completion three out of four times and was growing impatient.

As if in answer to his question, Faith and the tenth Doctor came walking down the tunnel. Faith was drying her hair with a white towel. Buffy took a look at the towel and scrunched up her face in confusion. "How come you got a normal towel?" she asked Faith. "I had to use something that felt like burlap," Buffy complained.

Faith tossed the towel in question to the tenth Doctor, who put it in the larger on the inside pocket of his jacket. "I always carry one with me. They are of immense value," he said.

The fifth Doctor patted his jacket and smirked knowingly at his older self. "I seem to remember reading that somewhere," he said. While they had been talking, Faith had gone to the bar and ordered breakfast for herself and the tenth Doctor. The fifth Doctor gawked at how much food she brought back to the table.

Faith saw the look of amazement on the fifth Doctor's face. "What? I worked up an appetite last night," she told him.

"TMI, Faith, TMI," Buffy said as she started in on her not quite so large breakfast.

Nyssa and the fifth Doctor sat down and stated eating breakfast with the others. Faith timed it so that both Doctors had a spoon of porridge in their mouth when she asked, "I have a question. Is it still considered a ménage-a-trios if both guys are the same person?" Both Doctors nearly choked on their food. Nyssa had to pound on the fifth Doctor's back to help him stop choking.

When the tenth Doctor was able to breathe again, he said in a stern voice, "Faith."

Faith tried to look innocent. "Just asking, that's all," she said.

The tenth Doctor saw the gleam in his younger self's eyes. "No…no…no!" he said quickly. "Not going to happen. She's my girlfriend and I'm not sharing her. You have to wait your turn," the tenth Doctor told himself.

"But by then, I'll be you," the fifth Doctor complained, teasing his older self.

"Exactly," the tenth Doctor said firmly.

Nyssa leaned over to Buffy. "Is Faith always this forward?" she whispered.

"You have no idea," Buffy replied, shaking her head. Buffy finished off her breakfast and stood up from the table. "Time to go. I doubt Dawn is getting any better," she reminded her friends.

"Quite right," the fifth Doctor said. "Forgive us. It is rare that two of my regenerations get along so we forgot how pressing things are," he explained. "We should head for the city as soon as possible," the fifth Doctor suggested.

The black furred Ursanoid called Dan heard this and approached their table. "If you folks are serious about helping us, you could do me a real favor when you get into the city," he said.

"As long as it doesn't involve violence," the tenth Doctor said. He looked at Buffy's expression. "Well, at least not too much violence," the tenth Doctor corrected himself. He looked over at Faith when she cracked her knuckles. "Who am I kidding? As long as it doesn't involve _us_ having to beat anyone up," the tenth Doctor said, indicating himself and the fifth Doctor.

"Not really sure," Dan admitted. "Rumors have come out of the city that the humans are planning something big in regards to us 'rebels'," he said. "If you find out what it is and somehow get word back to us, I would be greatly appreciative," Dan told them.

"Not a problem, Papa bear," Faith said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "If you make a comment about the porridge, so help me I'm going to dump Nyssa's bowl on you," she warned. Buffy had already finished her own bowl. Faith only chuckled, but kept any comments to herself.

Dan cocked his head to the side, not getting the reference. He shrugged his massive shoulders and pulled out a parchment map depicting the human capital city from his back pocket. The Ursanoid elder unrolled the map on the center of the table. He tapped one of his large claws on a building in the center of the map. "This is their main government building," Dan said. "Whatever plans they might have are sure to be there," he told them.

Faith looked at over at Buffy who she could tell was itching for someone to vent her frustrations on. The fact that whoever that person might be would probably end up needing a lengthy hospital stay was irrelevant. Faith couldn't agree more. She grabbed a knife off the table and spun it around her fingers. She tossed the knife to Buffy who stabbed the map through the picture of the government building quicker than anyone but a Slayer could follow. "Center of town, got it," Buffy confirmed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The path to the human city on Polaris 2 led the Doctors and their Companions through several deep valleys and ravines. As soon as they hiked down one side, the group would have to head up the other boulder strewn side. Every time Nyssa stumbled in her high heels, Faith would look at Buffy and both of them would roll their eyes.

Faith, Buffy, and the tenth Doctor rested on top of a flat slab of granite while they waited for the fifth Doctor to help Nyssa up the slope again. A loud, high pitched whine reverberated through the canyon. "What was that?" Buffy asked, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Sounded like a plasma rifle," the fifth Doctor said as he and Nyssa finally caught up with the rest of the group.

"Doc, down there," Faith said, pointing down into the next valley. She had seen a large brown shape scurrying from boulder to boulder. The whine sounded again and Faith saw a bright blue bolt of energy slam into the boulder the Ursanoid had just left. She followed the path of the flash back up and could just barely make out two much smaller shapes along the top of the far ridge. Faith watched as a third blue bolt sped down into the valley. The shooter was just slightly off target and only managed to graze the furry native's shoulder. Everyone heard the Ursanoid yell out in pain.

The tenth Doctor took a deep breath to force his rage under control. "B, take Five and see if you can help the Ursanoid," he ordered. The tenth Doctor's eyes narrowed as he turned to where the shots were coming from. "Faith and I will try and talk some sense into the humans," he said coldly. Faith grinned and the fifth Doctor shuddered. He was glad that he had never seen his older self's girlfriend smile like that at him.

Nyssa raised her hand. "Doctor, what about me?" she asked.

Faith sighed. "Stay here and try not to draw any attention to yourself," she commanded. Team blond raced down a path to the bottom of the valley while the brunette team snuck along the ridge to confront the humans.

"Can you see him, Norman?" one of the hunters asked his friend from their choice spot overlooking the valley below. Both hunters were dressed in matching dark green, one piece jump suits.

"Nah, James, the furry bastard ducked down behind those boulders over there on the left," Norman told his partner. "Don't worry. As soon as he pops his scruffy head up, I'll blow it off," he said confidently.

"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" the tenth Doctor asked as he stepped out from the trees.

"Shit!" James swore as he spun around to look at the man who had creeped up on them. He leveled his plasma rifle at the newcomer. "What are doing here? Norman and I have exclusive rights to hunt this area," James told him.

Norman spared a quick glance at the strange man and then went back to staring at the valley floor, waiting for the Ursanoid to show itself. "If he's a hunter, he has to be either the bravest or the stupidest one on Polaris 2," he muttered to James. Norman paused and when he realized that James wasn't following his line of thought, Norman added, "No rifle, so unless he plans on strangling the stinking bastard down there with his own hands, I'm guessing he isn't here to poach in our sector." Norman scanned down below once again, the barrel of his rifle moving smoothly with his eyes. "Besides, if he did poach in this sector, we could report him to the charter company and get a free week of hunting out of them in compensation," he said.

James wasn't so sure about things. "What are you doing outside the city walls without a weapon?" he asked the tenth Doctor. "The bears will tear you apart," James said like he was speaking to a child.

The tenth Doctor smiled at the two men. "I can't stand weapons; they're always used to hurt other people. Nope, I never use one because I am a pacifist," he told them proudly. "And as for the native population of this planet…I've found them to be rather gracious hosts," the tenth Doctor said.

Norman took his eyes off the valley below to look at the tenth Doctor. "Oh for crying out loud," he swore. "I thought they shipped all of you bear lovers off planet when the charter company bought the rights to this ball of dirt," Norman complained. Because he was looking at the Doctor, Norman didn't see the other two figures dashing from boulder to boulder towards the injured the Ursanoid down below.

James pointed his rifle at the tenth Doctor's face. "Bear lover, huh?" he asked rhetorically. "What's to keep me from you in your Ursanoid loving face?" James asked with a smirk. His smirk went away when instead of cowering in fear; the Doctor's smile became predatory.

"I might be a pacifist, but I never said that my girlfriend was," the tenth Doctor said cryptically. A wooden stake flew through the air and impaled the hand that James was using to balance his rifle. The pain and shock of seeing a foot long piece of wood sticking through his hand made the hunter drop his rifle. James dropped to knees, clutching his injured hand. The pain was overriding his mind so that James couldn't process why there was suddenly a cute brunette woman racing out of the tree line towards him.

Faith ran forward and did a flying kick over the kneeling man's head. As she sailed over, part of her mind was pleased when she saw the stake sticking out of his hand. Faith had taken a gamble considering that the air density was different that what she was used to. The other hunter only had time to turn around and face Faith before her boot caught him squarely in the stomach. Norman doubled over from the pain and impact dropping his rifle. While Norman was bent over, Faith spun on her front foot and slammed the side of her other foot into his head. Norman was unconscious before he hit the ground.

The tenth Doctor smiled at his girlfriend and kicked the fallen rifles over the edge of the ridge. He was quite satisfied at the crunching noise the rifles made when they hit the boulders on the valley floor below them.

The fifth Doctor and Buffy managed to get to the wounded Ursanoid without getting shot at. They found the chocolate colored Ursanoid leaning with his back against one of the larger boulders. The Ursanoid was holding his left shoulder with his right paw. Blood was seeping from beneath his paw. The Ursanoid finally noticed Buffy and the fifth Doctor when they were only ten meters away. He looked at the two humanoids and gave a low warning growl, baring his teeth.

"Knock it off fuzzy-wuzzy, we're to help," Buffy snapped in annoyance.

The fifth Doctor pulled out his towel from the interior trans-dimensional pocket of his jacket. "I can use this to stop the bleeding," he offered the Ursanoid. "We're going to help you whether you want us to or not, so don't make Buffy hold you down so that I can tend to your wound," the fifth Doctor warned.

The chocolate furred Ursanoid chuckled through his pain at the thought of the petite, blonde woman managing to even lift one of his arms, let alone keep him from moving. While he was chuckling, the two humanoids dashed across the last bit of open ground between them. The Ursanoid was shocked when the woman put her hand on his chest and was able to keep him from rising. He was also confused as to how they were speaking to him without translating boxes. The injured native took a deep breath through his nose and realized that despite what the man looked like, he wasn't human.

"Here, this should help stop the bleeding," the fifth Doctor said as he gently placed the towel over the wound in the Ursanoid's shoulder. The injured Ursanoid took over putting pressure on his shoulder, grateful for the help.

"What are you guys?" the Ursanoid asked, not sure what to think about receiving help from two things that looked like humans but weren't. The woman smelled like a human, but there was no way a real human could have that much strength he thought.

The Time Lord and the Slayer were saved from having to answer that question when they all heard a loud crash from across the valley. Buffy quickly popped her head over the top of the boulder and saw the shattered remains of two rifles on the valley floor. She smiled when she noticed that one of the rifles had blood on it. Never doubting Faith's abilities, Buffy was satisfied that at least one of the hunters had received a serious injury. Buffy's assumption that _her_ Doctor and Faith had come out without a scratch was confirmed when she looked up and saw them waving cheerfully down to her. "All clear," Buffy told the fifth Doctor.

"That was quick," the fifth Doctor muttered. Not for the first time on this quest, the fifth Doctor thought about how helpful it would be to have a Slayer as a Companion. Working along that same train of thought, the fifth Doctor asked, "Buffy, would you mind helping this chap up?"

The Ursanoid was again shocked at how the little "human" woman was able to support his massive weight. He shook his head in amazement. "Thanks again. My name is Nigel," he said, still in shock.

Buffy snorted in amusement that such a large predator was named "Nigel". The fifth Doctor gave her a stern look before glancing up at Nigel's face. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm the Doctor and this is my friend, Buffy," he told the Ursanoid. Nigel gave a snort that was almost identical to Buffy's when he heard _her_ name.

The tenth Doctor and Faith marched their human prisoners to the flat rock where Nyssa was sitting. Faith noticed her boyfriend had a slightly shocked expression on his face when they finally reached his old Companion. "What's with the shocked look?" she asked him.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was just surprised to see Nyssa still here," the tenth Doctor admitted. "Back when I was the younger me, Nyssa was kidnapped with alarming regularity," he explained. The tenth Doctor smiled at Faith. "I honestly expected her not be here when we got back," he admitted with a conspiratorial whisper.

Faith snickered at the plight of his former Companion. She figured Nyssa, like Xander, was one of the Universe's butt-monkeys. Faith quit laughing when she saw Buffy supporting the weight of the Ursanoid they had saved. "Shit," Faith swore and raced over to help the injured native the rest of the way to the flat rock.

Nigel was beyond being shocked anymore when another small human female came up on his other side and took an equal amount of his weight on her shoulder. He glanced back and forth at the two women and said, "They must grow humans differently where you two come from."

"Something like that," Buffy muttered. She didn't feel like explaining the whole vampire slaying alien hybrid thing right then.

After they eased Nigel onto the rock, the tenth Doctor said, "Faith, watch over these two while I take look at our friend's injury." Faith skipped over to him, kissed his cheek, and kicked the legs out from underneath their captives. The hunters landed in a heap at her feet.

The tenth Doctor approached the Ursanoid cautiously. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he said.

Nigel creased his huge brow. "I'm Nigel, but I thought the other guy was 'The Doctor'," he said. Once again, Nigel inhaled deeply through his nose and found out this man was also not human.

"Don't get them started," Buffy whispered to Nigel. The Ursanoid chuckled and then winced as the movement caused him more pain.

The tenth Doctor put on his brainy specs and eased the towel off of Nigel's shoulder. "Hate weapons," he muttered to himself. The tenth Doctor's cheerful expression came back quickly though when he saw that the damage was relatively minor. He smiled up at Nigel. "Not to worry, I can fix that up in a jiffy," he assured the Ursanoid. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and slid the setting rings around to where he needed them.

Nigel tensed up when the other guy calling himself the Doctor pointed a small silver tube at him. His tension quickly fled while he watched his muscle and skin knit themselves back together wherever the skinnier Doctor pointed the tube. When the Doctor shut off his high pitched thing-a-majig, Nigel rotated his shoulder experimentally. The spot where he had been shot was bald, but there was no pain in movement. Nigel tried to stand, but he sat back down quickly when his loss of blood made him dizzy.

The fifth Doctor looked with envy on his older self's sonic screwdriver. "_Perhaps I might have been a just a bit too hasty when I tossed mine away,_" he thought. The fifth Doctor grew concerned when he saw Nigel was having trouble standing. "Do you think there are any more hunters in this vicinity?" he asked Nigel.

"Nah, they pay a lot for a pretty big hunting area," Nigel said.

Buffy pulled out Mr. Pointy from where she had tucked it away. She tapped the wooden stake against her palm as she walked up to the human captives. Judging from the look of terror coming from the one with the crudely bandaged hand, Buffy had a pretty good idea what Faith had used to make him drop his rifle. Buffy stopped close enough to the hunters that they could clearly hear the sound the heavy wooden stake made when it hit her palm. "How big is your hunting area?" she demanded.

Norman looked at her defiantly and kept his mouth shut. James was feeling a lot more practical about things. He knew exactly how much it hurt to have one of those sharp things shoved through a body part. "We each paid for a standard range and teamed up to double the space we could hunt in," James said quickly.

"That really doesn't tell me anything," Buffy warned.

James gulped as Buffy stopped hitting her palm with the wooden stake and held it like she was judging its weight. "It goes from Capital city to the edge of the forest East of us," he explained, his voice starting to get higher with panic.

Everyone but the hunters relaxed a little. The fifth Doctor smiled at Nigel. "It would appear that you have quite bit of breathing room for the moment," he pointed out. "Do you think you can make it to the Elder's pub on your own?" the fifth Doctor asked.

Nigel nodded his big head. "Yeah, it's not too far from here," he assured them. Nigel stood slowly this time and managed to stay on his feet. "Thank you again Doctors, Buffy, and I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name," he said to Faith.

"That's Faith," Buffy told Nigel. "Be careful," she said. Nigel nodded his head and walked slowly out of sight into one of the valleys they had recently been through.

"Now, as for you two," the tenth Doctor said ominously. "You are going to show us where your camp is," he ordered them.

The trek to the hunter's camp was easy in comparison to the path they had taken earlier that day. The hunter's camp consisted of two inflatable geodesic domes, one being slightly larger than the other. Buffy and Faith left the others at the edge of the camp while they snuck up to the structures. Buffy held up her hand and silently put up three fingers, one at a time. When her third finger came up, Faith paused for a second and then both she and Buffy kicked in a door to one of the domes.

Buffy had taken the smaller dome just because it had been closer to her when she and Faith had snuck into the camp. The dome she was in was laid out like a luxury condo. There was a small kitchen, a loft with two beds, and a living room complete with a couch, large screen monitor, and entertainment equipment. Buffy picked up a small, silver cube from next to the equipment. For the first time, she wasn't so sure about having the TARDIS translate things for her. The label on the cube was "Broke Back Mountain, VI."

When Faith had kicked in her door, her sense of smell was assaulted with the smell of blood and death. She took a step into the dome and the automatic lights came on. Faith took in a sharp breath when she saw the pelts of several Ursanoids in various stages of being tanned. She did a quick look around for threats and then hurried out of the dome. Faith slammed the door shut behind her.

Buffy and Faith met the Doctors and Nyssa in the center of the camp. While they were talking, Nyssa broke off from the group and wandered over to the larger dome. Faith noticed where Nyssa had gone a moment too late to stop her from going inside. Faith ran to the larger dome and was followed by her boyfriend and his younger self. Nyssa came running out of the dome and doubled over. She vomited the entire contents of her stomach.

"Nyssa!" the fifth Doctor exclaimed in worry. He rushed to her side and held her hair out of her face as she continued to vomit. The fifth Doctor looked questioningly at Faith for a reason why Nyssa was in the state she was in.

Reading his face correctly, Faith shook her head in disgust at the human invaders. "Let's just say that the hunters are lucky we sent Nigel to the elder's pub," she said. "Otherwise, he would have eaten both of them, no matter how terrible we taste," Faith explained.

The fifth Doctor clenched his teeth, his own bile rising when he caught on to what Faith was saying. He stood up and led Nyssa away from the skinning dome. The fifth Doctor fished around in his jacket for anything that might help Nyssa. He disregarded the jelly babies knowing that something sweet was definitely not going to make her feel any better. He stopped when he saw his older self looking at him with compassion. The tenth Doctor was holding out a stick of mint gum to his younger self. The tenth Doctor knew that any aid would be more comforting coming from the fifth Doctor.

While the Doctors gave aid to Nyssa, Faith stalked over to where she had left their captives. On her way, she broke off a long metal strut that ran up the side of the living quarters dome. Buffy nodded her head, hoping that Faith was going to do what she thought. The men's eyes were wide with terror as Faith walked towards then carrying a strut that was far too heavy for even both of them to lift. Norman wet his pants as Faith kicked him into place so that he sat back to back with his partner James. Faith lowered the metal strut so that Buffy could hold one end. Buffy nodded again and the two Slayers walked in a circle around the hunters, bending he strut into a tight band around the captives. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Faith was a little let down when they reached the walled capital city of the humans on Polaris. Ever since meeting the hunters and seeing what they did to the natives of the planet, she had been itching for a fight. When they got to the gate, they were simply waved through while the Ursanoids were searched. "This sucks," Faith said to no one in particular.

Once they were inside the city walls, the tenth Doctor shot away from the group towards an information kiosk. The kiosk had three walls in a staple shape and a glowing screen mounted on a pole on the back wall. The tenth Doctor pulled out his brainy specs and looked the touch screen panel over. He waved his sonic screwdriver over the screen and information not generally available to tourists popped up on the screen. "Appears our two hunting buddies with benefits were correct," he said. "It says here that the last 'bear lover' had been shipped off planet over a month ago. A ship carrying Ursanoid sympathizers was turned around by use of force just last week," the tenth Doctor said sourly.

The fifth Doctor had put on his glasses as well and squeezed in next to his older self. "Pull up a map of the city. I want to find that government building and put a stop to all of this nonsense as soon as possible," he said. The tenth Doctor nodded his head in agreement and a map of the city appeared on the screen. Not surprisingly, the main seat of power for the puppet government set up by the Safari Planet Charter Corporation was in the center of town. On a hunch, the fifth Doctor pulled out the segment tracer and saw that the blue tip pointed towards the center of town as well. He put away both the tracer and his glasses. "Ever forward," the fifth Doctor said as he walked briskly towards the center of town.

The building at the center of town was a large cube taking up a city block on each side. The tenth Doctor squinted and made out the hazy form of a communications array on the top of the building. A plan began to form in his mind. He let his eyes move down the building and was angered by the large image of a triumphant hunter standing with his foot on a beast's head and his plasma rifle by his side. The image took up most of the side of the building that was facing them. The tenth Doctor recognized the species the hunter was standing on. It was a near sentient race that had been hunted to extinction.

The fifth Doctor again pulled out the tracer and was satisfied that it pointed directly at the building. "It looks like we will be able to take care of both our chores at once," he said optimistically. His hopes of a quick end to their current quest were dashed when they reached the sealed doors leading into the building.

The tenth Doctor sighed loudly in defeat as he ran the sonic screwdriver over the doors and the panel on the wall next to them. "Triple dead-locked," he explained as he took a step back from the doors. "We're going to have to find another way inside," the tenth Doctor told his younger self and their Companions.

Faith looked up and saw that there was a small, open window on the third floor a little ways down from them. She elbowed Buffy and gestured with her head. Buffy nodded in agreement. "You guys stay here. Faith and I will be back in a couple of minutes," Buffy told the Doctors. The two Slayers trotted off down the side of the building. When they reached the window, Buffy took out a quarter and flipped it.

"What are they up to?" the fifth Doctor wondered. He was soon given an answer when Faith took up a position directly under the open window. She crouched slightly and made a saddle with her hands. Buffy took several steps away from Faith and then ran at her sister Slayer. The combined strength of Faith's lift and Buffy's jump propelled the petite blonde up to the window with ease. Buffy grabbed the window seal and pulled herself through the open window. When Buffy held out her hand with a thumbs up gesture, Faith casually walked back to where her boyfriend and his cute younger self stood waiting.

"That was amazing," Nyssa said when Faith got back to them.

"Not really," Faith said modestly. "Buffy could have thrown me up here just as easily, but she won the coin toss," she said.

"Coin toss?" Nyssa asked, unfamiliar with the custom.

A loud thump came from the other side of the door. "Yeah, the winner got to go inside and be the first to kick some ass," Faith explained. The door slid open and an unconscious human guard fell into the doorway. The door had been the only thing holding him up. Faith simply stepped over him, not bothering to move him out of the way.

"We need to split up," the tenth Doctor said suddenly after they were all inside the building. Faith recognized the gleam in his eyes and knew that he was up to something. "You lot go find out what the company has planned for Polaris 2 and I'll catch up with you shortly," he suggested.

"Where are you off to?" the fifth Doctor asked.

"I need to make a long distance call," the tenth Doctor replied cryptically. He jogged off towards a door marked with a symbol for stairs.

"Am I always that impulsive?" the fifth Doctor asked Faith.

Faith smiled at the retreating form of her boyfriend. "Pretty much, yeah," she replied. "You're also awesome in bed," Faith added.

Nyssa blushed at this bold statement. Buffy just rolled her eyes. The fifth Doctor returned Faith's smile and blushed slightly as well. Just to do something to relieve his embarrassment, the fifth Doctor pulled out the segment tracer.

"Something's wrong," the fifth Doctor said in worry as he looked down at the tracer. He turned around in a circle and the pointer stayed still, as if glued in place.

Nyssa took a step towards her Doctor. "Some kind of jamming signal?" she suggested.

"We'll have to deal with this after we get the information we came here for," the fifth Doctor said, shaking his head. He pocketed the tracer and gestured towards the Slayers. "Lead on, ladies," the fifth Doctor said.

After a brief discussion, Faith and Buffy decided the best way to search was from the top down. They figured that whoever ran this branch of the charter company would most likely have an office near the top of the building. A short elevator ride brought them to the top floor. The doors opened to reveal a large reception area devoid of people. The reception area had a large cream colored receptionist desk in front of a large set of double doors made from heavy, dark wood. Scenes had been carved into the panels of the doors.

"Where is everybody?" Buffy wondered aloud.

The fifth Doctor walked around the imposing desk / counter of the receptionist and found a calendar with days marked off. "It appears we have come on a Sunday," he told her. The fifth Doctor stepped out from behind the desk and turned to look at the large double doors behind him. He ran his hand down the front. Up close, the fifth Doctor was able to make out the scenes carved into the ancient wood. The scenes depicted creatures of all types being hunted down. The fifth Doctor tried to turn the handle and found the doors securely locked. "Bother," he swore. "Maybe I was bit hasty in throwing away that old screwdriver," the fifth Doctor mused, not for the first time since meeting up with his older self again.

Buffy put her hand on the blond Doctor's shoulder and gently eased him aside. Without saying anything, Buffy spun to her side and kicked out at the doors. The wood shattered around the locks and the doors flew open. "I've never needed one," Buffy told the fifth Doctor reassuringly as she walked past him into the room. Faith followed Buffy into the room and the fifth Doctor just shrugged his shoulders and went into the room as well.

Nyssa and the fifth Doctor walked over to a huge desk monopolizing the large room. Like the now broken doors, it was also made of ancient hardwood and decorated with carvings. Its black shine went well with the plush burgundy carpet under their feet. While the fifth Doctor and Nyssa busied themselves with hacking the primitive programming, Faith stared closer at the desk. Something about the carvings was bothering her. Buffy made disgusted faces as she wandered around the room and inspected the creature heads mounted on the walls.

"Oh shit," Faith muttered as she finally figured out what about the carvings was bothering her. There were three panels that were larger than the others. "B, come take a look at this," Faith said. Buffy stood next to Faith and looked at the desk. The three larger panels each showcased a different animal without the common hunter motif. Faith pointed to each panel in turn. The first panel was of a large canine. The second was of a big horn sheep and the final was of a majestic stag.

"Wolf…Ram…and Hart," Buffy swore. "You guys had better hurry, I have a bad feeling about this," she warned the fifth Doctor and his Companion.

"Wolfram and Hart? Isn't that the group of bottom dwelling lawyers that seem to infest every populated world?" the fifth Doctor asked, not looking up from the computer screen.

"It's so nice to be recognized," a slimy voice told them from the doorway. Buffy and Faith spun around and saw a short man dressed in an expensive black suit pointing a deadly looking gun at them. His slicked back hair shined almost as much as the polished desk. The lawyer pulled out a small box from his pocket with his free hand and thumbed a switch. The monitor the fifth Doctor was working on went dark. "Here I was sitting alone in the building bemoaning the fact that I have to break the Sabbath at least twice a month while everyone else gets to go home," he told them. "I was bored out of my mind until a little flash on my com panel let me know that someone was breaking into the manager's office," he explained. "I would like to thank you for livening up a perfectly blah day," the lawyer said happily.

Faith looked at the lawyer like he had just crawled out from a swamp or a live taping of the Glen Beck show. "I thought you guys would have gone to ground permanently considering how often we kick your ass," she taunted.

The lawyer chuckled. "Brave words coming from a woman who will be dead soon," he said. "But where are my manners? I am Jeffrey Williams and I'll be your executioner this evening," the lawyer chuckled.

Buffy and Faith stepped forwards, completely unafraid. "I'm Buffy Summers and this is Faith Lehane," she told him. Williams frowned as he tried to remember where he had heard those names before.

Faith gave the lawyer one of her predatory smiles. "The guy behind you with a gun shaped thingy in his hand is my boyfriend, the Doctor," she warned Williams.

Williams felt something touching the base of his skull. He went still. "Drop the gun and kick it under the desk," the tenth Doctor commanded. Williams did as he was told and the sonic pistol slid over the carpet to come to rest under the huge desk.

"For the record, I prefer to think that many guns look like bananas," the tenth Doctor said as he walked past the lawyer. The ancient alien was holding a bright yellow banana in his hand. He pealed it and took a satisfied bite. Faith walked over to the tenth Doctor, stood on her tip toes, and kissed her boyfriend's cheek.

Before Williams could get angry at being duped by a piece of fruit, his memory finally churned forth where he had heard those names before. The lawyer looked from the brunette girl named Faith to the dark haired man called the Doctor. The man's apparent disdain for weapons was the key to unlock the knowledge he had absorbed in fifth year law school ("Working with Evil and Making a Profit".) Jeffrey Williams, Esquire was standing in the presence of the Destroyer of Worlds _and_ the Dark Slayer. That meant that the blond woman was probably the Slayer that had caused so many problems on Earth so long ago. A growing wet spot appeared on the front of his pants as he lost control of his bladder.

Faith looked down at the lawyer's soiled pants. "It's so nice to be recognized," she parroted back to him.

The tenth Doctor leaned over to the lawyer from Wolfram and Hart. "If I were you, I would start running about now," he suggested in a friendly tone. Williams took his advice and fled out of the office as fast as he could run. The Slayers were stopped from chasing after him by a raised hand from the tenth Doctor. "Let him go. He'll soon have more trouble than he can handle," he said cryptically.

"This have anything to do with your phone call?" Buffy asked.

"Perhaps," the tenth Doctor said smugly. He joined the fifth Doctor behind the desk and activated the terminal with his sonic screwdriver. Both Doctors clenched their jaws in anger while they read through the files.

Faith put her hand on the tenths Doctor's arm, lending him some comfort. "What did you find?" she asked softly.

The fifth Doctor answered for him. "It would seem as though the slime from that law firm has set up a shell company so they could purchase this world and set off a religious war," he said sourly. "Records indicate that Wolfram and Hart subsidiaries are due to make a fortune from arms sales as well as the trade of Ursanoid pelts," the fifth Doctor explained.

An alarm sounded throughout the building. "That's our cue to go," the tenth Doctor said, his manic smile flashing. He was so happy that he couldn't help humming a Ramones song as they rode the elevator to the ground floor.

As soon as they were outside of the building, the fifth Doctor pulled out the tracer and began sweeping the area, hoping to get a fix on the Key segment once again. His brow furrowed as the blue end of the arrow swung once again to point at the building. His expression softened when comprehension dawned on him. The fifth Doctor caught the eye of the tenth one and the older Time Lord winked at him. The tenth Doctor had been watching his younger self and had come to the same conclusion.

"Halt!" an armored guard yelled as his troop ran from the building across the street. The small squad was made up of 6 men with plasma rifles and the short lawyer looking ridiculous in the ill fitting guard uniform.

"As senior representative of Wolfram and Hart, I demand that you surrender to us, Oncoming Storm," Williams shouted from the rear of the group.

"I would rather not, if it's all the same," the tenth Doctor said glibly. His face darkened. "Instead, I will offer _you_ a chance to surrender and throw yourself on the mercy of the courts," the tenth Doctor offered. He nodded to his younger self who had slowly made his way to the side of the building. The fifth Doctor smiled as he took out the segment tracer and touched the side of the building.

The guards gasped in fear as the building flashed out of existence. Faith walked over to where the fifth Doctor was standing. She bent over and picked up a small cube. "Cool," was all she said before tossing the Key segment to the tenth Doctor.

The tenth Doctor caught the segment and tucked it away safely in his jacket. He turned to face the assembled guards once again. "Last time I make that offer," the tenth Doctor warned. "Lay down your weapons and the courts might take mercy on you," he offered.

Two of the guards dropped their weapons and took a step back. Williams looked at them with contempt. All the talk about courts had brought the lawyer back into comfortable territory. "I'm a lawyer for the largest law firm in the Universe," he told the Doctor. "Everything about the sale and purchase of this backwater planet was checked and doubled checked. Everything is well within galactic law," Williams said smugly.

"Except that it illegal to purchase the rights to a planet without the consent of the majority of the sentient beings living there," the tenth Doctor said, interrupting the lawyer.

Jeffrey Williams openly scoffed. "There no such provision in galactic law," he said. He made an involuntary step back when he saw the look on the tenth Doctor's face that clearly told him that the lawyer had been maneuvered into a checkmate.

"Galactic law, no I suppose not," the tenth Doctor replied. He held out his sonic screwdriver and pressed the switch. The blue end flashed twice and then the Doctor put away his tool. The crack of displaced air was heard from all sides. The street had suddenly become crowded after the platoon of heavily armored Judoons materialized all around them. "Violation of the Shadow Proclamation section 4-5, most definitely," the tenth Doctor said. He turned to face the Judoon with a different colored badge on the front of his armor. "So…blow…sho…no…toe…go," he said in flawless Judoon.

The Judoon Captain nodded to the Doctor and made a motion with his fist. All of the guards still holding their weapons were roughly taken into custody. Those who had laid down their weapons earlier were ignored. Williams made a break for it and ran down the street. The Judoon captain calmly pulled out his disruptor pistol and fired once. The red beam struck the fleeing lawyer in the center of his back, turning him into a pile of ash. "Blow…go…slow…blow," the tenth Doctor yelled out to the Judoon commander. When the rest of the Judoon platoon heard the Doctor, they all spit on the ground. The Judoon captain shot the pile of ashes, just to make sure nothing was still alive within.

"What did you say to them?" Nyssa asked, clearly frightened of the rhino looking aliens.

"I just wanted to make sure the good captain over there knew that Williams had been a lawyer," the tenth Doctor said with a shrug.

**TARDIS**

The tenth Doctor politely looked away as Buffy kissed her husband passionately in the control room. Adric and Tegan had joined Spike in welcoming the others back and both of them looked away in embarrassment as well. The Doctors and the Slayers had made a small detour back to the Elder's Pub before returning to the TARDIS. The elders were quite taken with the Judoon and the Judoon captain was equally taken with the Ursanoid beer. The extra time had made Buffy's heart yearn even more for her undead husband. Faith wrapped her arms around the tenth Doctor's waist.

"It really is quite sad that the Ursanoids got caught up in that ancient struggle," the fifth Doctor said to no one in particular.

"You mean between the forces of light and darkness?" Buffy asked when she finally came up for air.

"I was thinking more specifically along the lines of whether or not there is an inalienable right to arm bears," the fifth Doctor said with a straight face.

This statement was greeted with a couple of chuckles and even more heartfelt groans. The merriment died away when Tegan looked down at her hands and was able to see through them. She looked over at Adric and Nyssa and they were becoming transparent as well. "Doctor!" Tegan yelled.

The Doctors ran to the center console and started working with the knobs and levers, trying to keep the Companions stable. "Where the hell are the phase compensator on this thing?" the fifth Doctor swore.

"They're the green switches by your hand," the tenth Doctor told his younger self.

"Ah, here they…" the fifth Doctor said.

"…are," a different voice said from where the fifth Doctor had been standing. In his place was another blond man, but this one had curly hair and was wearing a red coat with multi-colored panels. His hand was finishing the act of flipping the green switches.

Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan had disappeared and an attractive young woman with shoulder length brown hair was suddenly standing where Tegan was. "See Peri, I told you I could fix that dimensional instability," the sixth Doctor told his Companion, Peri Brown. He looked up from the console when Peri did not reply. The sixth Doctor turned around slowly, taking in the new control room. "Oh…bother," he swore.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Opening Credits**

The TARDIS flies out of a blue vortex and passes by into a red stormy Vortex. Names fly by slowly one at a time:

David Tennant

Colin Baker

Eliza Dushku

Nicola Bryant

The names are followed by a flattened, golden ellipse with the words "Doctor Who" written on it. The logo flies away to be replaced by the words:

With

James Marsters

And

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The names fly away and are followed by:

"The Doctors and the Keys part 2"  
By DWDuck

The sixth Doctor turned around slowly, taking in the new control room. His view of half of the room was blocked by the floor to ceiling Time Rotor. "Oh…bother," he swore.

"Doctor, what happened?" Peri asked.

The sixth Doctor refused to look up from the console as he tried to make sense of this TARDIS' layout. "I compensated for the dimensional instability and corrected the phase alignment perfectly. I have no idea why we aren't in the TARDIS anymore," the sixth Doctor admitted in a rare moment of humility.

Peri Brown, Companion of the Doctor had seen many things in her journeys with first one Doctor and then his replacement. She had never dreamed that a TARDIS could look and _feel_alive like this one did. Peri stepped out from behind the center console to get a better look at the large room and was shocked to see that they weren't alone. On the other side of the Time Rotor was a small group of people, two men and two women. The blonde pair looked confused while the brunette woman looked slightly amused. That left the tall, skinny man with dark, messy hair. He wore an expression of extreme annoyance.

"Wait a minute…this isn't a different TARDIS! This is _my_TARDIS. What have they done to her?" the sixth Doctor complained loudly, still messing with the controls. Peri grabbed his arm and pulled the sixth Doctor away from the console. "What are you doing you stupid girl? Can't you see that I'm trying to figure out what has happened to us?" he demanded.

"I'm sure you would eventually figure things out Doctor," Peri said sarcastically. "But wouldn't it just be easier to ask them?" she asked as she pointed to the other people in the room. This caused the tall man's expression to slip into a small grin.

"Peri Brown, look at you," the tenth Doctor said warmly.

Peri was about to say something when the sixth Doctor interrupted her. "Keep quiet, Peri. Let me handle things," he instructed his Companion. The sixth Doctor looked at the tall man in the suit and asked, "Are you the idiot responsible for all of this?"

"Screw this," Faith swore under her breath. She rushed forward and grabbed a fistful of the multi-colored jacket. Faith effortlessly lifted the sixth Doctor and held him suspended a couple inches off of the ground. "Drop the 'tude or I'm going to kick you in the balls so hard that he'll still be feeling it," she warned while jerking her head toward the tenth Doctor.

"Please put me down, Faith" the tenth Doctor said reluctantly. "It isn't his fault that he can be abrasive some of the, well actually most of the time," he said.

Faith slowly let the sixth Doctor down. "OK…_Doctor_," Faith said to her boyfriend. She smiled as she caught the look of recognition on the sixth Doctor's face as he finally remembered who the tall man was. Peri looked shocked at the other man being called the Doctor as well. She made the intuitive leap to guessing that the tall man was an older and cuter version of the Time Lord she traveled with.

Once Faith removed her hand, the sixth Doctor smoothed out his jacket and rolled his neck. He looked at his older self. "Since we are in your version of the TARDIS, I suppose it's safe to assume that you're the reason for the dimensional instability," the sixth Doctor said. Faith narrowed her eyes and he quickly stepped behind Peri and peered over her shoulder. This act of self protection brought a chuckle from the newer Companions.

"Six minutes and 9 seconds," the tenth Doctor told his younger self, letting him know that the time wasn't up yet.

"That bad?" the sixth Doctor asked, his curiosity overcoming his fear of testicular battery.

"Worse than you can imagine," the tenth Doctor explained. "While we are waiting for the safety protocol to go into effect, I should make introductions," he said. The tenth Doctor walked over to Peri so that he stood shoulder to shoulder with her, facing his Companions. "The blonde girl is my friend, Buffy Summers. She's human and has died twice during her numerous battles to save your planet," he said.

Buffy waved her hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you," Peri said. She wasn't going to say anything about the young woman's name considering her own name was actually "Perpugilliam."

"The bloke standing next to her is her husband, William Summers, but we call him Spike," the tenth Doctor said. "Spike is a vampire half-breed who fought to get his soul back and succeeded," he said proudly. Spike was embarrassed by his friend's feelings of devotion and just waved his hand as well.

"There is no such thing," the sixth Doctor said indignantly. He took a step back and raised his hands up defensively when Faith glared at him.

The tenth Doctor looked pained for an instant at his younger self's reaction. The moment passed and the tenth Doctor stepped away from Peri and stood very close to Faith. "Peri Brown, I would like to you meet Faith Lehane," he said, once again full of pride. Peri wasn't sure, but her female intuition told her there was something more than just a Doctor / Companion relationship there.

Faith held her hand out to Peri. "Sorry you stuck with the crappy one," she offered.

"There's no need for that!" the sixth Doctor complained.

Peri only smiled and took the offered hand. "I'm glad to see that he eventually learns to act more _human_," she said, choosing her words to irritate her Doctor. The sixth Doctor stormed away from Peri and went back to examining the slightly different layout for the controls.

"I think Peri and I are going to get along great, Doc," Faith said as she chuckled at how Peri had managed to get the sixth Doctor's goat.

The tenth Doctor snapped his fingers. "Oh I'm getting forgetful in my old age. Peri, Buffy is from California as well. A little place called Sunnydale. Buffy, Peri is from Pasadena," he told the young women. Peri wandered over to Buffy and her husband and they began to talk about their home state.

Once the six minutes and 9 seconds was over the sixth Doctor said, "Buffer time is up. Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" He put his hands on hips. "One minute we having a nice argument about the relative intelligence of that moron, Plato and suddenly the cloister bells rings and all power gives out on the TARDIS. I was able to restore back-up power and was compensating for dimensional instability in the Vortex when I found myself in this…horrendous looking control room," the sixth Doctor said.

The tenth Doctor ran his hands through his hair. "Where to begin?" he asked himself. The tenth Doctor took in a deep breath. "Bad things happened (and no I can't go into what they were) and the Eye of Harmony was forced to take human form," he said. "Oh…and for your information, I like the coral theme!" the tenth Doctor said, defending his decorating of the TARDIS.

Shock was written all over the sixth Doctor's face. "How? Why?" was all he could get out. The tenth Doctor was pretty sure the sixth one was referring to the current cosmic situation and not his choice of desktop themes.

The tenth Doctor pulled the sixth Doctor over to the monitor and punched some keys. The screen began to rapidly scroll equations and symbols. "Like I said, I can't really tell you why, but here is the how. A couple of humans put together this spell in an attempt to protect her," he explained.

The sixth Doctor leaned forward to look at the code. "I've seen this before," he said absently.

"The Logopolin code," the tenth Doctor provided. "However, even the source code for the Universe wasn't powerful enough to contain her. The code is breaking down," he said softly.

The sixth Doctor looked at the tenth sharply. "That would cause the erasure of the Eye of Harmony from existence. The temporal instability it caused would destroy all of existence," he said, more than just a little worried. "What are you doing to fix things?" he demanded.

The tenth Doctor glared at his younger self. "Well, up until just a little bit ago, 5 and I were doing just fine rounding up segments of the Key of Time," he said sourly. "Speaking of which, Faith, do you still have the second segment?" the tenth Doctor asked his girlfriend.

Faith walked over to the center console where she had placed the segment down when they had returned to the TARDIS. "Yep, right here, Doc," she replied and tossed the cube to the tenth Doctor.

"You had a Key segment resting on the console, no wonder the temporal barriers were warped," the sixth Doctor said loudly.

"Oops," Faith said apologetically. She shrugged her shoulders and went over to join in on Buffy and Peri's conversation.

The sixth Doctor followed the tenth one up the ramp into the segment room. When the tenth Doctor carefully put the second segment next to the first, they both heard an audible click as the segments fused together. "That's new," both Doctors said.

The sixth Doctor glanced out the doorway to where the Companions were all standing. "Obviously age hasn't brought wisdom if you are letting your Companions handle something as powerful as a Key segment," he said.

The tenth Doctor stepped in front of the sixth Doctor's face. The older Time Lord was wearing his expression that he used to intimidate cosmic powers. "Choose your next words carefully," the tenth Doctor warned. "Faith is more than a Companion to me, she's my girlfriend," he explained. The sixth Doctor remained silent as he tried to process the fact that his older self was having an affair with a human.

The Doctors left the segment room and shut the door behind them When they got to the center console, the tenth Doctor started running his hand through his hair and muttering, "No…no…no, why did I let him keep the blasted thing."

Faith rushed over to the tenth Doctor. She put her hand on his arm and looked him in the eyes. "Slow down and tell us what is wrong. Not all of us are you and we don't leap to the same conclusions," Faith reminded the tenth Doctor.

Peri noticed how the Doctor moved his arm so that he could hold Faith's hand. "_Good for him,_" she thought. Peri wondered how long it had taken for her version of the Doctor to change into this more open and caring alien.

The tenth Doctor took a deep breath. "We need to find the next segment, but 5 had it in his jacket when he swapped places with 6," he explained.

The sixth Doctor reached into his multi-colored jacket's trans-dimensional pocket and pulled out the tracer. It had some pocket lint on it. The sixth Doctor blew the lint off. "Is this it?" he asked, holding the tracer out.

"Yes, but where did you find it?" the tenth Doctor asked, mystified.

The sixth Doctor looked a little confused as well. "I felt something poking me through the pocket and as you well know, that is quite a feat considering all of the inter-dimensional physics that requires," he said.

The tenth Doctor snatched the tracer out of his younger self's hand. "The tracer was built using spare parts from the TARDIS and is tied to her. It must have kept its temporal coordinates locked onto my TARDIS," he surmised. Before anything else could go wrong, the tenth Doctor placed the tracer in the custom slot prepared for it on one of the six control panels. The tracer glowed and coordinates flashed on the small monitor above the console.

The sixth Doctor looked at the screen and frowned. "Do you think the warrant is still active?" he asked his older self.

"Probably, we didn't exactly leave on good terms," the tenth Doctor said with a shrug of his shoulders. "On the plus side, at least we don't look like 4 anymore, so it should take a little time for them to figure out who we are," he suggested.

Faith stepped next to her boyfriend and looked at the screen. The tenth Doctor had taught her to read and write in High Gallifreyan. When she read the coordinates and what the place was called, Faith started to giggle. "What did you do this time?" she asked.

The sixth one looked up at the ceiling, his hands clasped behind his back. He was whistling in an attempt to appear innocent. The tenth Doctor gave Faith a sheepish grin. "I sort of found out the hard way that casinos in the 51st century still frown on card counting," he explained.

"Someone want to tell us where we going?" Buffy asked, not keen on being kept out of the loop.

Faith gave her sister Slayer a huge smile. "We're going to New Vegas, baby!" she exclaimed happily.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"New Vegas?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.

The sixth Doctor smiled as he began lecturing, one of his favorite hobbies. "Actually, it's New New New New New New Las Vegas, but humans have a tendency of shorting it," he said. "This version was constructed only a year after the planet New New New New New Las Vegas was destroyed in an interstellar mafia war," the sixth Doctor explained.

"New new…ah screw it," Faith swore. "The last New Vegas took up an entire planet?" she asked. Faith could only imagine a planet devoted to vice, her favorite pastime.

"Technically it was a just a small moon, but you know how PR people exaggerate," the tenth Doctor told Faith. "After the moon was destroyed, the refugees were able to construct a huge drift station and set up shop again," he said.

Peri was almost as excited as Faith. She had visited the original Las Vegas with her father and was looking forward to seeing what the shows were like in the 51st century. Her curiosity was peeked even more when the tenth Doctor referred to the place as a "drift station." Perry looked over at the taller, skinnier version of her friend. "Is a drift station anything like a space station, Doctor?" she asked.

The sixth Doctor answered before his older self could. "Yes, technically a drift station _is_ a space station, but they are usually much larger than the normal space station you would find in a solar system," he said.

"They get their name from the fact that they steer away from gravity wells and _drift_ in the space between stars," the tenth Doctor said, cutting in.

"How big is this place?" Spike asked.

The sixth Doctor acted like Spike had never spoken. The tenth Doctor gave his younger self a disapproving look. He looked back at Spike and smiled as a plan started to form in his mind. "I believe at this point in time the station is roughly the size of Greenland," the tenth Doctor said. He turned his back on Spike and Buffy and began typing away frantically on the old typewriter under the monitor. Spike blinked as he tried to imagine Las Vegas on a super-sized scale.

Faith read what the tenth Doctor was typing on the screen, her ability to read Gallifreyan having becoming quite good recently. Her sentimental old alien was asking the TARDIS to hack into the station's computers the instant they arrived and set up a honeymoon suite for Buffy and Spike. Faith wrapped her arms around the tenth Doctor's waist and kissed his cheek. "You're sweet," she whispered.

The materialization noises started and the Doctors raced around the center control consoles in opposite directions. They flipped switches and looked at readouts. The sixth Doctor was standing in front of the panel that showed where they were in relation to the station. "What section did we end up in?" the tenth Doctor asked.

The sixth Doctor read the coordinates and leaned around the Time Rotor to look at his older self. "High Rollers area on the New Strip," he replied. The sixth Doctor scowled at the tenth Doctor's clothing. "You're going to want to change," he suggested to his drab self.

The tenth Doctor looked down at his suit and smiled. "So I am," he said. The tenth Doctor motioned towards the Companions. "Come along, you lot, off to the wardrobe room. The High Rollers district is formal attire only," he said. The tenth Doctor paused and then asked the sixth Doctor, "Which hotel did we land in?"

The sixth Doctor scooted over to the next console and checked the small monitor. "It would appear as though we landed at the New Excalibur," he said. He cocked an eyebrow at the smile Spike and the tenth Doctor gave each other. The sixth Doctor started tapping his foot expectantly, waiting for the rest of them to go change. He didn't notice the quick wink his older self gave the Time Rotor or the quick flash of color the TARDIS sent back in reply.

Buffy squeezed Spike's hand. "I got to go out on the last field trip, it's your turn now," she offered her husband.

"Actually, Buffy, I think we are going to need to have both of you along for this jaunt," the tenth Doctor said. "The TARDIS is monitoring Dawn's condition and she will text you if your sister gets any worse," he said.

The sixth Doctor walked around to the monitor the tenth Doctor had been working at. He didn't think the station's security forces would be too much of a chore. The sixth Doctor read the instructions he had given the TARDIS and rolled his eyes. "Vortex, I've gone soft," he muttered softly enough that the tenth Doctor couldn't hear him. The older Time Lord walked through the door that led to the interior of the TARDIS and the Companions, including Peri, followed him to the vast wardrobe room.

30 minutes after they had left, the Companions and the tenth Doctor returned. Buffy was wearing a silver gown made of thousands of tiny beads. Peri had chosen a nearly see through, extremely low cut white gown. Spike was doing his best not to look and failing miserably. He had chosen to wear his Victorian black tuxedo. Faith was wearing a strapless, black leather dress. The top of the dress resembled a corset. A shiny, black leather duster that just barely missed sweeping the floor finished out her outfit.

Faith grinned and her heart started beating faster when she turned around to watch her boyfriend enter the room. The tenth Doctor had put on a perfectly tailored tuxedo that would have been in style no matter what time period he wore it in. He had even put on a black bow tie, quite an accomplishment considering how much he hated the things. The tenth Doctor adjusted his TARDIS shaped cuff links and gave Faith a winning smile. Peri walked over to the tenth Doctor and straightened his tie. "I haven't seen that tuxedo since our visit to Monaco," she said, remembering her time traveling with the fifth Doctor. Faith looked at her boyfriend with questions in her eyes.

"Five was fond of this tuxedo, even though it does seem to be rather unlucky at times," the tenth Doctor explained.

Faith looked over at Peri. "Did he look as good as I imagine he did?" she asked the buxom Companion.

"Better," Peri said as she walked back to her Doctor.

Faith stood on her tip toes and whispered into the tenth Doctor's ears while squeezing his hand tightly. "Are you sure you hadn't had sex with anyone since Romana?" she asked, squeezing his hand even tighter.

The tenth Doctor fought to keep a smile on his face through the pain. "Yes, you were the first woman that I had been with after Romana. There were only the occasional snogs during those four hundred years," he assured Faith.

Faith took another look at how sexy Peri was. "Are you sure Six was straight?" she asked in astonishment.

Cocking his head to the side and shrugging his shoulders, the tenth Doctor replied, "I thought I was, but looking at Peri now, I'm not so certain."

Faith chuckled but then became serious. "What did you mean when you said that tux was unlucky?" she asked the tenth Doctor.

The tenth Doctor ran his hand through his already messy hair. "I was wearing it when both Titanics had their disasters," he admitted.

Spike couldn't help but overhear. "Both Titanics?" he asked.

"Long story," the tenth Doctor replied.

Buffy noticed that the sixth Doctor was still wearing his gaudy, multi-colored coat. "You staying here?" she asked him.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" the sixth Doctor asked, confused.

"You haven't changed," Buffy told the sixth Doctor.

The tenth Doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Here we go," he whispered to Faith.

The sixth Doctor looked very cross. "I'll have you know that this suit is the highest fashion on some of the outer worlds," he said, defending his choice in clothes. Buffy looked at the tenth Doctor for confirmation.

"Well…" the tenth Doctor said, tilting his head. "Considering I have access to all planets that ever existed and all of time, statistically at least one of them had to have developed a civilization where that suit doesn't make the population nauseas," he admitted. The tenth Doctor had a sudden thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I was certain I would have found at least one of those planets by now," he said.

"I hope we never do," Faith said under her breath.

"What was that?" the sixth Doctor asked, not quite hearing what she said.

Faith linked her arm with the tenth Doctor's. "Nothing," she lied. Faith led her boyfriend out of the TARDIS and the others followed.

The TARDIS had landed in the lobby of the posh hotel. The carpet was a dark gray with a pattern resembling paving stones. The walls were a lighter gray and made up to look like the stone walls of a castle. Real stone columns were scattered around the huge room. A long marble counter sat next to the far wall. The clerks behind the counter were red skinned humanoids dressed in gray suits. Several humans were dressed in dark formal attire and were scattered around the room.

The tenth Doctor raced forward and stopped when he was in line to speak with one of the clerks. Everyone but the sixth Doctor and Faith looked confused as to what he was doing. When it was finally his turn, the tenth Doctor whipped out his slightly psychic paper and held it for the clerk to see. "Mr. John Smith of the TARDIS, Corporation," he lied. "I was told that a honeymoon suite had been reserved for one of our VPs and her husband. I think the reservation should be under a Mrs. And Mr. Buffy Summers," the tenth Doctor said loud enough for his Companions to hear.

The red skinned clerk moved its fingers over the glass keyboard and looked down at the results. "That is correct, sir," the clerk told him. He reached under the counter, pulled out two key cards, and handed them to the tenth Doctor. "Honeymoon suite on level 3. All nourishments and intoxicating substances are on the house. Also, 50,000 credits have been transferred to the account in case the happy couple, group, or recently split asexual entity would like to try their hands, or respective appendages, at the numerous games of chance on the New Strip," the clerk said.

The tenth Doctor put away his psychic paper and took the two key cards. "Thank you," he said. The tenth Doctor walked back to the Companions, smiling like a schoolboy. The sixth Doctor rolled his eyes in annoyance. The tenth Doctor handed a card to both Buffy and Spike.

"Doc,…" Buffy started to say. She was thankful for the offering, but she wanted to find the segment as quickly as possible.

The tenth Doctor raised his hand to cut Buffy off. "Buffy, it will probably take us at least a day and a half to find the segment on a station this big. Faith, Peri, myself, and I should be more than enough to handle whatever comes our way," he said. "Consider this a small wedding gift from the TARDIS," the tenth Doctor suggested. "And like I said, if Dawn's condition changes, the TARDIS knows to send you a text message," he reminded her.

Buffy thought for a moment and looked up at her new husband. The look that Spike gave her told her he was eager to take advantage of the gift, but he would be fine with whatever she decided. Buffy squeezed Spike's hand and then hugged her alien friend. "Thanks, Doc," she said warmly. Buffy stepped back and poked the tall alien in the chest. "If anything happens, I want you to promise me that you'll get a hold of us so we can help out," she ordered.

The tenth Doctor held up three fingers on his right hand while he held up that hand like he was swearing in. "Scout's honor," the tenth Doctor pledged.

Buffy was appeased and led Spike off to the nearest elevator. When the doors shut behind the happy couple, the sixth Doctor looked at his older self in a bit of confusion. "I don't remember ever being a scout," he said.

"Me neither," the tenth Doctor replied, his manic grin firmly plastered on his face. He had no intention of interrupting the quality time he had arranged for his friends. The tenth Doctor reached into the larger on the inside pocket he had added to the tuxedo and pulled out the segment tracer. He took a reading and put the tracer back. The tenth Doctor offered his arm to his girlfriend and gestured to the blast doors that led to the rest of the New Strip. "Allons-y," he said. The tenth Doctor left the hotel arm in arm with Faith while Peri and the sixth Doctor followed quickly behind them.

Right after the Doctors and their Companions left the hotel, a glowing white and orange mist began to form in one of the alcoves. The mist and the light began to coalesce. Two men stepped out of the mist and the orange and white light receded back into nothing. One of the men was tall with dark hair. He had blue eyes and a dashing smile. He was dressed in a black tuxedo similar to the Doctor's. The other man was slightly shorter and had curly, brown hair. He was dressed in a tuxedo that looked like it came from the late Victorian age.

The taller man took in a deep breath as he checked the readout on the Vortex manipulator strapped to his wrist. "Ah…it's good to be back in the good old 51st century," Jack said to his friend.

The other man looked at the differences between his tuxedo and his friends. "I think the wardrobe guys made a mistake again," John said.

"I don't know, I think you look pretty good in it," Jack said, with only a small amount of sexual undertones in his voice.

John kissed his Time Agency partner on the lips. "That's one of the reasons I love you. You always know what to say," he told his friend / lover.

Jack continued to look at his manipulator for a moment longer and then closed the protective leather covering. "Ok, let's go over our cover names again so we don't forget them and look stupid like we did on our last gig," Jack suggested. "I'm Jack Martin and you're John Lewis," he said.

John cocked his head to the side. "Did you ever figure out why the Deputy Director kept giggling when she assigned us our names?" he asked.

"All she would say is that Martin and Lewis were a famous pair from the 20th century and that the names fit us perfectly," Jack replied.

John still didn't look like he was satisfied. "OK, then why was she giggling?" he insisted.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? You never can tell with archeologists," he said with a shrug. The two Time Agents walked out from the alcove and made their way to the New Strip in search of the object they had been ordered to "liberate" for their boss.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

New Vegas

"So, where are we headed now, Doc?" Faith asked as they strolled along the strip of New Vegas. From what she remembered of the original Las Vegas strip this one was pretty accurate, right down to the black pyramid of the Luxor Hotel. The only glaring difference was the metal ceiling high above their heads.

The tenth Doctor paused before answering Faith. He took out the segment tracer and frowned when he saw where the needle was pointing at. The needle had changed position every time he took the tracer out to take a bearing. This meant that whatever they were tracking was on the move. The current heading led them off of the strip into one of the more seedy areas bordering the High Rollers district. The tenth Doctor pointed in the direction the segment tracer had indicated. "That way now," he said. The older Doctor made eye contact with the sixth Doctor and then glanced quickly towards Peri. The sixth Doctor nodded slightly.

The tenth Doctor forced a big smile on his thin face. "Looks like this part will probably be easier than we thought. Faith and I can probably take care of this bit alone. Why don't you and iI/i," [indicating the sixth Doctor with a wave of his hand,] "take in a show?" he said. "I hear that the clones of Penn and Teller are still very entertaining," he suggested.

Even though he was an accomplice in the duping of Peri Brown, the sixth Doctor was intrigued by the notion of watching that particular entertainment duo. He had first seen Penn and Teller during his first life back in 1974. As he remembered, the first Doctor had been feeling somewhat grumpy that day and had berated the smaller man, Teller, for talking too much. "How much do the clones remember of their original lives?" the sixth Doctor asked the tenth Doctor.

"Everything," the tenth Doctor said. "They were abducted for an evening back in 2015 and a full download was achieved. However, the entertainment company that paid for everything hired a group of Telgians to do the abduction. Penn and Teller most likely woke up feeling sore and unexplainably violated considering how those little gray skinned perverts operate," he told them.

Peri looked confused. "I'm sure you have heard the stories about rural bumpkins saying they had been abducted by small, gray aliens and then had strange objects shoved where the sun normally doesn't shine," the sixth Doctor said. "Let's just say that the Telgians always got a big thrill out of checking Jethro's oil," he said in disgust. Faith choked on a laugh.

Peri looked suspiciously at the tenth Doctor, but was unable to read his new face. "I suppose a Penn and Teller show would be nice. How are we going to pay for the tickets?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor smiled even more and led her to a nearby computer kiosk. A quick wave of the sonic screwdriver, a few key strokes, and one hard slap to the side of the machine caused two tickets to be spit out at the bottom. "Have fun," he said as he handed the tickets over to Peri.

The sixth Doctor took Peri by the arm, led her off down the wide corridor back towards the strip, and started lecturing on the relative merits of 51st century shows. He looked back over his shoulder briefly and nodded in thanks at his older self.

"Things are really going to suck on the other side of that door, aren't they?" Faith asked. She knew her boyfriend well enough to know when he was covering something up.

The tenth Doctor nodded and ran his hand through his messy hair. "Oh yeah," he said. "Peri always was pretty good at taking care of herself, but there is a reason why they require tourists to sign a waiver before being let in," he explained.

Faith beamed at the tenth Doctor. "Awesome! I can't wait," she said while rubbing her hands in anticipation of the mayhem that was sure to come.

They walked up to the door and the tenth Doctor flashed his slightly psychic paper at the guard standing watch. The guard looked down at the paper and sneered. "Better you than me," the guard muttered as he opened the door for Faith and the tenth Doctor.

Once they were through and the door shut behind them, Faith asked the obvious question. "What exactly did the paper say this time?"

The tenth Doctor blushed slightly. "It identified us as Inspectors John Smith and Faith Lehane, Brothel Safety and Quality Control Division," he admitted.

"Sounds like a job most guys would love to have," Faith said.

"You haven't seen the brothels here," the tenth Doctor replied, cringing slightly.

Faith and her boyfriend walked down the middle of the narrow street just a kilometer from the prosperous strip. She looked around in wonder at the various stalls, shops, and peddlers selling all of the vices Faith could think of and some that she had never imagined before. Soot from past fires hung on the sloping walls. Garbage and large rats could be seen just outside of the yellow pools of flickering light.

A small girl sitting at a booth labeled "Fortune Telling" drew Faith's eye. The girl was wearing a threadbare, brown cloak over a dirty white tunic. Even though her clothes had seen better days, the girl's light brown hair was clean. A man in business suit stood over the girl. "Here's your money, little alley rat," the man said as he tossed down a small bag of coins.

The young girl closed her eyes and then opened them suddenly, a small smile on her face. "I see a storm coming, a cleansing storm," she said cryptically.

The customer at the booth looked up at the metal ceiling above them. "You're daft, girl. I'm not paying for something that is obviously false," he said as he snatched his money off of the table.

As the man stormed away, the little girl chuckled. "He won't believe me, but he will believe his girlfriend when she tells him she doesn't have Herpes 14," she muttered. She looked up and made eye contact with Faith. "Tell your fortune, pretty lady," she offered. Faith started to shake her head no, but the girl added, "No charge for the Slayer in the heart of the Storm," she said.

"Wait? What did you say?" the tenth Doctor asked, intrigued. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the girl seemed oddly familiar. The tenth Doctor ran through his vast memory and couldn't place where he had seen her before.

The little brown haired girl smiled at him at took out a well used deck of Tarot cards. The first card she put down was a card with an old man carrying an hourglass. The second card was of a young woman wearing flowing white gown and holding a matched set of short swords. Faith saw the cards and looked up at the tenth Doctor. His eyes were cold as he too grasped the obvious meaning of the cards. The third card was a sparkling eternity symbol. The fourth card that was placed down on the table was a solitary tower rising high on a hill.

"Yes, I know who you are, Doctor," the girl said, her smile never faltering. She gestured towards the cards. "You are the Lord of Time and the Dark Slayer. You are on a quest that you have taken on before. One that holds importance for all of creation," she said. The girl flipped over another card, a man sitting on a throne. "What you seek can be found in the possession of the one who runs this station," she explained. "However, you will not be able to succeed without…," the girl paused while she turned over another card, a knight in shining armor. "The Lord's knight," she said.

The tenth Doctor looked down at the picture of the knight and instantly recognized the handsome, dark haired man in the armor. "Who are you?" he demanded.

A twinkle of merriment danced in the girl's eyes. "Just another traveler," she said cryptically. Her smile fell and a look of sadness replaced the twinkle. "I can also see the ending of this quest," she told him. "One who stood with you at the Battle of Sunnydale must die if you are to save the Universe," she warned him. Her face fell even more a small tear started to form in the corner of her eye. "There is one other thing I must say to you, Doctor. Remember that your song will be ending soon and that he will knock four times," she reminded him.

The tenth Doctor swallowed and then straightened his back. "Nothing is written in stone," he said challengingly.

The young girl gave the tenth Doctor a look usually reserved for a petulant school child. "We both know that there are things that can be changed, those that can but shouldn't be changed, and then there are things that cannot be changed no matter how hard you try," she reminded him. The tenth Doctor shook his head in defiance and walked away. Faith stayed behind for a moment, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Take care of him, Faith," the girl said softly. Faith blinked a few times, nodded, and ran off after her Doctor. Once Faith's back was turned, the little girl turned over two final cards. One showed men in a bloody battle and the other showed a grinning skull. "I'm sorry, Faith, but your song will be end before his, here on this station," the girl whispered sadly.

Faith hurried to catch up with the tenth Doctor. When she did, she put a hand on his arm, slowing him down. "What the hell just happened there?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I never really understood how seers work. I sort of…um…skipped that class in the academy," he admitted.

"And what does she mean by 'your song is ending soon' and 'he will knock four times'?" Faith asked. She watched as his eyes suddenly looked like all of his 913 years.

The tenth Doctor took in a deep breath. "During the past couple of years, I have had several time sensitive individuals tell me that my song will be coming to end soon," he said. "I think they are saying that they can feel my imminent death," he explained. "As for the knocking four times thing, that little girl is the second person to warn me that whomever it is that will take my life will knock four times before doing it," the tenth Doctor told his girlfriend.

"OK…" Faith said hesitantly. "Just when were you planning on telling me that people have been forecasting your death?" she demanded.

The tenth Doctor tried to come up with an explanation, but his eyes went from hers to looking behind Faith. "We're going to have to talk about this later, Faith," he said slowly. While they had been talking, several tall humanoids had surrounded them.

Faith looked over the tenth Doctor's shoulder and thought that the gang members circling them could almost pass for humans, if it weren't for the glowing blue eyes and the large tusks jutting out from their lower jaws. She sensed the one standing directly behind her lunge forward. Faith spun on one foot, jumped in the air, and brought her other foot smashing into the creature's jaw. A loud crack filled the narrow street as his left tusk snapped off from the impact.

The tenth Doctor dropped to his knees and the gang member who had rushed up behind him swung his arms through empty air. The tenth Doctor rolled away and tried to come up with a solution that didn't involve him fighting or either Faith or himself getting beaten to death. He glanced at the wall opposite him and noticed how one of the pipes at the top of the wall was larger than the others. The wall was too far from him to use his sonic screwdriver and there were too many of their tusked assailants in between him and the wall for him to try and dash over to it.

Faith was facing off with three of the big brutes and was barely holding her own. The creatures were able to take a punch and keep on fighting. Even the one who she had kicked in the head was still swinging at her. Those swings hurt almost as much as a full grown vampire hitting her. One of the ones facing her had a large, rust covered wrench in his hand. He tapped it on the wall in an attempt to intimidate her. After the third bang on the wall, Faith rushed the gang member and put her body in between the wrench and the wall. She grunted as her body took the force of the impact. Faith grabbed the creature's arm, over rotated it, and smashed her fist into his elbow. The gang member stumbled backwards, his now useless arm hanging at weird angles from his side.

"No one knocks four times while I'm around, no one!" Faith screamed at the injured gang member.

"Faith!" she heard the tenth Doctor yell. Faith spared a quick glance in his direction and saw the sonic screwdriver spinning through the air towards her. She reached out her right hand and snatched the tool out of the air. "The big pipe!" he yelled at her. Faith nodded and pointed the sonic screwdriver at the pipe. She pressed the switch and a concentrated blast of sonic energy smashed into a section of the pipe.

The pipe above their heads began to shake and bow out where the sonic energy had struck it. "Get down!" the tenth Doctor yelled. He dove at Faith and knocked her to the ground just as the pipe burst. Orange plasma shot out of the pipe and sprayed out. The super heated plasma was lighter than air and stuck to the ceiling. Unfortunately for the gang members, who had all ignored the Doctor's warning, the high volume of plasma took up the space where their heads were. Alarms sounded throughout the district while headless corpses fell all around them, small flames burning from the blacked neck stumps.

"We need to get out of here before the authorities show up to shut down this plasma conduit," the tenth Doctor said. "Keep your head down and run!" he ordered.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

John "Lewis" ran down one of the side streets of the New Vegas strip. He alternated from looking ahead to looking behind to see if his pursuers were still after him. "What are the odds that I end up on the same drift station as the Gerfluxian royal family?" he swore. John and Jack had been on an assignment on Gerflux Prime which had ended in embarrassment for John and public scandal for the royal family. It all started because the two Time Agency scouts had spent the week long freighter trip to Gerflux Prime sampling the native ethanol spirits and getting thoroughly hammered. When they received their orders on the final day of the trip, Jack had been forced to drag John's barely conscious body to the briefing room. It was in that state that John was told to seduce the royal princess. When he got to the palace, John found a "princess". Unfortunately for him, it was the family's prized poodle which they named Princess. John had spent a week wooing and then bedding the quadruped instead of the young lady who was in line for the throne. Photos of the illicit affair had been leaked on the planetary net soon after Assistant Director Song gave them the recall order. John always suspected that the photos had been taken by his Time Agency partner as a joke.

John looked back again and saw the guards were getting closer. "Come on gents, it was a mistake anyone could have made!" he yelled over his shoulder. This only made the guards angrier and helped them put on a burst of speed. John turned to his left and ran out of the alley towards the entertainment venues of the Strip.

The sixth Doctor tossed some popcorn in the air and then caught it in his mouth as he and Peri walked out of the large auditorium. "That was actually amusing. It's nice to see someone take my advice every now and then. I think the show flows much better without the little guy yammering constantly," he referencing the Penn and Teller show they had just watched. He tossed more popcorn in the air.

"Yes, it was a very good show," Peri agreed. "N ow I would like you to tell me what was so dangerous to make the other you insist I not be involved?" she inquired, her tone steely. The sixth Doctor nearly choked on his popcorn. During the intermission, Peri had replayed the earlier conversation between the versions of the Doctor and realized what they had been up to. "It couldn't have been that dangerous if the other Doctor was willing to risk his girlfriend," she pointed out.

The sixth Doctor finished coughing and spat out the offending piece of popcorn before replying to Peri. "I don't need to explain myself to a human," he said haughtily. Peri's cold stare caused him to reconsider - he did share a TARDIS with the woman after all. "However, I will try to explain it in a way your limited intelligence can understand," he conceded. The sixth Doctor gestured in the direction his older self had gone. "Not all of New Vegas is a vacation spot. Like all places occupied by humans, there is a dangerous underside that keeps the rest looking respectable," he told her. "As for why Faith was allowed to go…Do you remember the stories I told you about Lela?" he asked.

Peri frowned for a moment while she tried to remember. 'Wasn't she the warrior woman you traveled with during your fourth life?" she asked.

The sixth Doctor nodded. "Yes, my little savage, I called her," he said. "Don't ask me how I know, but every fiber of my being tells me that Faith makes Lela look like Gandhi," he explained. "Quite a pleasant chap, but he cheated at poker. I think he hid extra aces in his over sized nappy," he muttered. "I'm quite certain that Faith is capable of taking care of _that_ me as well as anything else that should pop up," he said.

Their conversation was halted when a man wearing a Victorian tuxedo darted out from an alley. He ran towards them and dived behind a small souvenir kiosk behind them. Peri and the sixth Doctor looked at each other, neither one knowing what was going on. The answer to the obvious question appeared in the form of a troop of guards dressed in gaudy jackets similar to the sixth Doctor's. The leader of the guards spotted them and rushed over.

The Captain of the Guard stopped exactly two paces in front of the sixth Doctor and did a ridiculously complicated salute. "My Lord, thank the 97 and half heavens that a member of the Council of Elders is here on the Gambling and Elvis i mpersonator Mecca," he exclaimed. "We spotted the accursed Defiler and chased him this way," he said proudly. "Did you see which way he ran?" the guard captain asked.

The sixth Doctor tapped his chin. "Refresh my memory, what does the Defiler look like again," he said.

The guard captain was surprised. Judging from the pattern on the man's coat, this was one of the highest ranking members of the Council of Elders. He shrugged his shoulders and did what the man asked. "A humanoid male, pale skin, with light brown hair. He was last seen wearing a black costume of some sort," the guard captain replied.

"He went that way," both Peri and the sixth Doctor said in unison. Much to the confusion of the guards, they were pointing in opposite directions down the street.

The sixth Doctor reached over and pulled Peri's arm so it pointed in the same direction as his. "Forgive my assistant, she's quite dense, but makes a wonderful cup of tea," he said. Peri glanced at him through narrowed eyes and silently promised that she would get him back for that.

The guard captain nodded. "Thank you, my Lord," he said. He motioned with arm to his troops. "This way men! We'll get the Defiler by the end of the day or my name isn't Baxter Buffoonish, the eighth," he promised his men. The guard troop double timed it down the street where the sixth Doctor had pointed.

Once the guards were safely out of sight, Peri leaned behind the kiosk and said, "You can come out now." She offered a hand to help him get up.

John was slow to respond. He was too busy enjoying the view down Peri's low cut dress as she leaned over. Like his partner, Jack, John was also an omnisexual. He shook his head, took her hand, and got to his feet. "Thanks," he said whole-heartedly (for both the save and the peep show.) Once he was standing, John went about brushing off his coat and pants.

Peri gently reached up and felt John's hair. "Love what you've done with your hair," she told him.

John frowned for a moment and tried to remember where he might have met this pair before. The woman was talking like she knew him. John had just received a haircut before coming on this mission.

"Where's your other half?" the sixth Doctor asked, looking around for Buffy.

That sealed it for John. He assumed they were talking about Jack and therefore must have been fellow agents. "Looking for the target on the other end of the Strip of course," he said simply.

On the other end of the Strip, Buffy and her husband, William "Spike" Summers, strolled down the street hand in hand. They had spent a couple of hours making love and then decided that they wanted to see the sights of New Vegas. Spike took in a deep breath. "That's amazing," he exclaimed. "They even managed to copy the smells of Las Vegas," he said, shaking his head in wonder. Buffy gave him a weird look. He had forgotten that Slayers didn't have the same super sense of smell that vampires did. Spike scrunched up his face as he fought for words to describe what he smelled. "I can smell excitement and despair floating in the wind. There's also a strong undercurrent of urgency swirling about," he explained. Another deep breath brought a wicked smile to his lips. "There's also a heavy dose of lust saturating everything," he said while raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Buffy rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "Don't you ever get enough?" she teased.

"Never with you, pet, never," Spike replied. He gently brushed a blonde lock of hair from her face. She gently swatted his hand away.

"Later, Spike. Right now I want to see what the latest fashion is," she told him. Buffy grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him to a row of clothes shops.

When they passed a bench, Spike dug in his heels and refused to be pulled any farther. "Just because we're married doesn't mean I suddenly developed a taste for hanging out in a dress store while you try on their entire inventory," he said. Buffy made a pouty face, but didn't try to pull him towards he store. Spike dug into his tuxedo coat pocket and fumbled for a bit while he tried to find the card that had their pre-loaded credits on it. "How the hell does the Doctor make this look so easy?" he swore under his breath. He eventually found the card and handed it over to Buffy. "Go…have fun," he offered. "I'll just wait here while you shop. This looks like an excellent place to people watch," he said.

Buffy took the card, stood on her toes, and kissed Spike's cheek. "You're awesome. I'll try to make it a short shopping trip," she said before she rushed off to the nearest shop.

"Riiiiight," Spike said under his breath. He sat down on the bench and prepared himself for a marathon people watching session. After a few minutes, a figure walking down the street caught his attention. He watched as the tall, dark haired man came closer. "Nah…it can't be…not here," Spike tried to assure himself. As the man got even closer, Spike stood to get a better look. "Bugger me! It is him," he swore. Spike squared his shoulders and walked out into the street to intercept his one time nemesis. In truth, the man he was waiting for was more Angel's nemesis than his, but he had done Darla and Dru at the same time. Something the girls never let him or Angel try and that still irked Spike.

Spike looked through the window of the shop and saw Buffy looking over some clothes. "He better not try that kind of thing with Buffy," Spike said between clenched teeth. It was finally time for a _talk_ with _**the Immortal**_.

Jack "Martin" walked down the street, humming one of his favorite show tunes. His meeting with his informant had given him much more information than he had expected. As things were now, he had a couple of hours to burn before his scheduled rendezvous with his partner, John. While humming, Jack watched an attractive Aplan couple walking on the other side of the street. All four of their heads looked very kissable. His attention was brought back to the street in front of him when a man stepped directly in his path. Jack stopped abruptly and then showed his trademark smile. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon," he said to the man with the dyed blonde hair.

"There's an understatement," Spike said sarcastically.

Jack smiled even more. "I'm glad I ran into you early," he said. "I found out where the target is supposed to be," he told the man he assumed was his partner John. He was so excited about having a jump on their mission timetable, he reached forward, put a hand on either side of "John's" face, and kissed him soundly. "Love what you've done with hair," he whispered.

Something was nudging Buffy's awareness. She looked up from the silk like robe she was examining and glanced out the window. She dropped the robe in shock while she watched the Immortal and Spike share a kiss. "He never mentioned he knew the Immortal like _that_," she said. Buffy rushed out of the store to figure out what was going on.

Spike had been mentally running through all of the attacks that the Immortal would likely use. Snogging him senseless had not been one of them. He pushed the Immortal away and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Get off!" he yelled.

"I always do," Jack assured him.

"Wait…what?" Spike exclaimed.

The men were interrupted by Buffy shoving each of the in the chest. "What the hell is going on here?" she yelled. She looked directly at Spike. "Forget that. Why are you sucking face with the Immortal?" she demanded.

"I know I can last for quite a while, but no one has ever called me 'the Immortal' before," Jack chuckled. Buffy and Spike both looked at Jack, confusion written all over their faces. Jack met Spike's eyes. "I got to hand it to you, this one is a lot better looking than the one from our last mission," he said, approving of his "partner's" choice in dalliances.

Spike shook off the feeling that everything had turned topsy-turvey. "Pet, I was wanting to kick his ass, not snog. That was completely his idea," Spike said, trying to clear his name.

The Slayer took a deep breath to calm herself and looked closer at the Immortal. She knew their meeting in Rome had been some three thousand years in the past, but she was sure she had made quite an impression on the Immortal in her journey to Rome. Buffy saw no sign that the legendary lover, fighter, and eternal Peter Pan recognized her. Buffy shot a warning look at Spike that had nothing to do with how angry she had been, but rather told him that something was up. Buffy turned so she was facing the Immortal. "Do you remember me at all?" she asked.

Jack upped his pheromone production and put all the charm he could muster into his smile. "Sorry, I wish I did. How about we create some new memories?" he offered while undressing her with his eyes.

Buffy turned to look at Spike. "It's him, all right," she said.

Spike nodded. "Yeah, but it's like he doesn't remember either of us. Angel and I spent years hunting him," he said. A thought suddenly occurred to him. From Buffy's expression, she had come to the same conclusion. "You don't think…that would mean…" he stammered.

Buffy nodded her head and looked back at the Immortal. "Another Time traveler, just like the Doctor," she said, confirming she and Spike were thinking along the same lines.

At the mention of the name "the Doctor", Jack tensed up. His boss, Assistant Director Song, had warned him to avoid that person at all costs, at least until she gave him the approval to make contact.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Jack "Martin" put on his most charming smile for Buffy's benefit. "Pardon me, Miss, but I didn't catch your name," he purred while he upped his pheromone production.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "It's Buffy and if you don't stop hitting on me, I'm going to put some serious hurt on you," she warned.

Jack smirked and lowered his head submissively. "Yes, Mistress. I'm sure I've earned whatever punishment you _desire_," he told her, his voice dripping with sexual overtones. Buffy threw her hands in the air and walked a few steps away before she really lost her temper. Jack looked up and made eye contact with Spike. "I don't know where you picked her up, but you know what the boss said about the Doctor," he whispered, suddenly all business. "Keep the hot blonde busy while I contact the boss and ask what she wants us to do. Hopefully, we won't have to scrub the mission," he told him before dashing off to a nearby alley.

Buffy came storming back and looked around, her hands on her hips. "Where's 'Captain Horny'?" she inquired.

"Went off to make a phone call, I think," Spike replied, still in shock over the Immortal slipping him the tongue. "Said he had to talk to his boss about the Doctor," he relayed to her. While keeping watch on the street corner where the Immortal had dashed off to, Spike rubbed his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Got any gum, Pet?" he asked his wife hopefully.

Jack looked behind him to make sure he hadn't been followed by the young, blonde friend of the Doctor. He lifted off the leather strap covering the controls of his Vortex manipulator and adjusted a stud, activating the personal emergency frequency he and Assistant Director Song had set up. Within seconds, a glowing blue hologram of his boss sitting behind her desk sprang to life in front of him. River looked up and smiled patiently at him, waiting for him to begin. "I think we might have a problem on this mission," he told her bluntly, forgoing his usual charm. "John picked up a girl and she's connected to the Doctor," he explained.

River's face darkened for a moment and then she forced a smile back on her face. She knew that the time had finally come for her future husband to meet the past version of one of his closest friends; a meeting that would put into motion the plan that she and Jack had been working towards for over five years. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the eventual destruction of the Time Agency. The sad part was that Jack would end up losing years worth of memories due to his involvement. Even though she had known what was going to happen before she had sent Jack on the mission, it still pained her that her friendship with this version of Jack would soon be over. "It's all right, Jack. It's time," she replied, a sad smile on her lips.

Jack noticed the look on his boss' face. "Time to put the last domino in place, huh?" he asked softly. River's silent nod was the only response he got. Jack took in a deep breath to get his courage up. "I thought that was why you sent us here. OK, just make sure you have things set up on your end. If anyone finds out what we're really up to, a lot of powerful people will be out for our blood," he reminded her. Before severing the link he added, "Also, make sure John's name is kept out of things. I don't want him hurt when things start to go bad." He secured the leather flap again and walked back to where he had left "John" and Buffy.

Jack nodded at Spike and gave him a thumbs up sign. "Let's go meet the Doctor," he stated, forcing cheerfulness into his voice.

**********DrW**********

Faith walked close by the tenth Doctor's side. She wasn't holding his hand due to her wanting to be ready to fight, but she still brushed his hand whenever she could. Since the incident with the Tusk gang, she had been forced to break the arm of two separate pickpockets and crush the genitals of a pimp who offered the Doctor a sizable amount of money for her. She had kissed the tenth Doctor's cheek when he joked she was worth ten times what the pimp had offered.

The Doctor whistled a happy tune as he looked around the passageway. His eyes lit up when he spotted a burnt out brown box laying with the other garbage off to one side. "Oh look, I haven't seen one of those in years," he exclaimed and dropped to one knee next to the refuse pile. "Sargoian media delivery device," he said to no one in particular. He tossed the box into the air and caught it before it hit the ground.

Faith rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics. "OK, I'll bite. What's a 'Sargoian media delivery' doohickey?" She inquired.

"It's sort of like a telly, but emits smells instead of sights and sounds. The Sargoians don't have eyes or ears so they communicate by means of complex odor combinations," the tenth Doctor explained. He looked down at the device and frowned. "Problem is, Sargoians are methane breathers so one of their sitcoms usually ends up smelling like an outhouse at an all-you-can-eat chili festival," he added before dropping the box and wiping his hands on his overcoat.

Faith shook her head, wondering how someone who had lived as long as he had still managed to suffer from ADHD. "Doc, tracer," she reminded him. He looked down in embarrassment, which caused her to chuckle. He smiled at her and pulled out the tracer. The blue end of the tube pointed down a different passageway and they followed the indicated path.

The Doctor had his eyes locked on the tracer and didn't realize it had led them into a dead end corridor. "Blast!" he swore when the tracer pointed directly at the wall in front of him. The blue end had started glowing brighter, showing him that the segment was close. "We'll have to double back and see if we can't find another way past this wall," he told Faith.

Faith looked up and noticed an air vent near the top of the wall. "Maybe not," she replied, pointing to the grate covering the vent. Faith stood with her back to the wall and cupped her hands in front of her. "Come on, up you go," she suggested.

Had it been anyone else, the tenth Doctor would have balked at the notion of being lifted into place while he tried to figure out how to remove a grate. However, he had learned early on in their relationship to rely on Faith for the more physically demanding tasks they came upon. "Right, but no funny business. I almost fell and broke my neck the last time," he chastised her. Faith tried to look innocent while the Doctor planted a foot in her hands and balanced himself. She did her best to try and ignore what was directly in front of her face. The tenth Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the four corners of the grate, blasting the magnetic locking fixtures open. He tugged the grate off and threw it behind him. "OK, now how do you want to . . . OOF!" he exclaimed as Faith tossed him into the air vent without warning. She waited until his feet were out of view before hopping and grabbing the edge of the vent. With almost no effort, Faith pulled herself into the vent behind her boyfriend.

"You could have warned me?" the tenth Doctor complained once Faith was in the vent with him.

"Like how you warned me about that restaurant on Titan?" Faith replied.

The tenth Doctor sucked in air through his teeth. "Yeah . . . I suppose I did deserve that," he said absently. Craning his neck forward, he looked down the air shaft. "Bit tight in here, we'll have to go single file," he told her. They crawled down the airway for several minutes, always going straight, following the tracer. Eventually they reached another grate that let out into a lavishly furnished room. The blue end of the tracer glowed so much the Doctor had to put it back into his jacket in case someone might see it from the room. The air vent had widened enough that he motioned Faith to crawl up next to him and have a look for herself. Faith looked through the grate and saw a large, blue fat man sitting behind a gold encrusted desk. The Doctor pointed towards the desk and whispered, "Tracer pointed straight at him. I'm guessing he has the key segment somewhere on his person."

Faith stifled a laugh when she looked closer at the blue alien. "Looks like he ate the other two from the group," she whispered. The questioning look her boyfriend gave her helped her regain her self control. "You know . . . The Blue Man Group," she offered. He still looked confused, but Faith was spared from having to explain more when the door to the room flew inwards. A man with the body of a human but the head of a shark walked into the room flanked by half a dozen vampires with their game faces on. All of them were dressed like gangsters from the Al Capone era.

The shark like man chattered his teeth several times before speaking. "Dorium, Dorium, Dorium, where have you been?" he wondered. "You haven't been returning my calls, my emails, or even meeting with my messengers. I'm beginning to think you're trying to avoid me," he pointed out.

"Mr. Teeth, how good to see you again," Dorium lied. "Must be that new assistant I hired. It's so hard to find good help these days. I'll have a word with him," he promised.

Teeth nodded to one of the vampires behind him and the severed head of a red skinned boy was tossed onto Dorium's desk. "Saved you some time," Teeth chortled.

Dorium made a disgusted face and swept the head into a waste basket next to his desk. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit, Mr. Teeth," he inquired politely.

Teeth snapped his jaw several times in anger before he regained his control. "You sold us a freighter full of worthless sonic pistols!" he growled.

Dorium looked indignant. "I did no such thing! I sold you a shipment of top of the line sonic pistols. It's not my fault someone destroyed the plant where the batteries were made and put in a banana plantation in its place over night," he shot back.

The tenth Doctor snickered when Dorium mentioned the banana plantation. Faith poked him in the ribs. "What's with you and bananas?" she prodded, guessing correctly that he had been the one responsible for the weapons plant to be destroyed. The Doctor shushed her and Faith went back to watching the room.

"Let me tell you what is going to happen," Teeth warned Dorium. "I'm going to get every credit back that I paid for those guns and then I'm going to take the interest you owe me for my troubles out of your fat ass," he said with a smile that showed off several rows of serrated teeth in his enormous mouth. "Take him," he ordered his vampire flunkies. Two of them moved faster than Dorium could see and grabbed his arms.

"You can't do this to me! I'm president of the chamber of commerce on this station!" Dorium protested. Right after he said that, Faith's phone vibrated. The Tenth Doctor was pressed so close against her that he jolted when he felt the phone move. Unfortunately, he managed to smack his head against the top of the air vent at the same time. All eyes in the room turned to look at the air vent. "Rats . . . we have huge rats on this station," Dorium improvised. He had no idea what was in the air vent, but he prayed to the great profit maker that it was someone who could help him.

"See what it is and then meet us at the ship," Teeth ordered one of the vampires. With a jerk of his head, Teeth walked out of the room followed by his vampires and a very distraught and very overweight blue skinned man.

The vampire who had been left behind pushed a chair over to the wall where the air vent was. He ripped the grate from the wall and stuck his face in the vent to see if he could determine what had made the noise. His face was quickly intercepted by a fist that knocked him to the ground.

Face dove out of the air vent and rolled into a crouched fighting position. "The blue fat bastard was right . . . A gutter rat," the vampire chuckled.

"Ooooh . . . I wouldn't have said that if I were you," the tenth Doctor called out from the air vent. He was resting his head on his hands with his elbows propped up. Glancing in Faith's direction, the Doctor added, "Make it quick if you don't mind. I'm not really sure how I'm going to get down."

While the vampire was looked up at the Doctor, Faith threw her wooden stake at his chest. The vampire's head snapped around and he caught the wooden weapon mere centimeters above his heart. "Nice throw, gutter rat, but I'm over 300 years old and it will take more than a little girl to take me down," he boasted.

"You mean, like a Slayer?" Faith asked sweetly before standing up.

"Shit, I thought we took care of the last of you bitches years ago," the vampire moaned. He rushed at Faith, his arms ready to grab her and his fangs out to tear into her throat. Faith grabbed the nearest object she could find and threw it at him. The small potted palm tree was knocked away with contemptuous ease, shattering the ceramic pot in was in. The vampire followed up Faith's attack with two quick punches to her midsection. She responded with a round house kick to his knee. The vampire flinched, but did not go down.

The person who did go down was the tenth Doctor as he tried to ease his way out of the air vent but only managed to fall out with a loud thump. Both combatants looked over at him for a moment before he raised his arm. "I'm all right, carry on," he let them know.

Faith punched the vampire in the face as hard as she could, knocking him back several feet. He regained his balance and struck her across the chest with his arm, sending her flying behind a couch.

"Here, maybe this will help," the tenth Doctor yelled as he tossed the remains of the small palm tree towards the vampire.

Catching the small tree in mid air, the vampire sneered at Faith, saying, "I guess your friend over there doesn't like you very much."

"On the contrary, I love her," the tenth Doctor proclaimed loudly. Faith smiled when she realized this was the first time he had admitted that publicly. "The palm tree will _help_release you from your curse and finally let you find some peace after your death," the Doctor explained.

The vampire gave Faith a look as if to say, "He's kidding, right?" when his hearing picked up the ultra high pitched noise coming from the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The sap inside the living tree vibrated so fast it instantly flashed over into steam, shattering the small palm tree, and showering the vampire with lethal wood fragments. He had time to look down at the four large wood shards sticking out of his chest before exploding into a cloud of dust.

"I really am sorry, but we're short on time" the tenth Doctor apologized to the dissipating cloud of dust. He walked over to Faith and offered her his hand to help her up.

Once Faith was up, she brushed some tree splinters out of her hair and retrieved her wooden stake. "I could have taken that guy, easy!" she pouted.

"I know you could have," the tenth Doctor assured her. "That fat blue fellow has the key segment on him and I want to get it before that shark faced thing bites off the part where he keeps it," he said quickly and led Faith to the door. "I think it's time we rejoined the others. We're probably going to need back up," he guessed.

Faith remembered her phone had vibrated before the fight started and she dug it out of her pocket. After reading the text message, she handed it over to the Doctor. "I don't think that's going to be a problem," she told him.

The tenth Doctor froze when he read the message on Faith's phone:

_**Faith, just bumped into the Immortal.**__**  
**__**He wants to meet with the Doctor.**__**  
**__**We'll take him back to the hotel.**__**  
**__**Get your mind out of the gutter! - lol**__**  
**__**-B-**_


	17. Chapter 17

As soon as the sixth Doctor, Peri, and John "Lewis" entered the New Excalibur Hotel, the Doctor made a bee line for the front desk. He rang the traditional silver bell twice, even though the red skinned clerk was only a few feet away. "How may I be of assistance?" the clerk inquired, trying hard to control his annoyance.

"Has the woman with the preposterous name of 'Buffy' returned yet?" the sixth Doctor responded.

The clerk sneered at the man in the ugly, multi-colored jacket. "I'm so very sorry, sir, but the New Excalibur has very strict rules relating to privacy and giving out information," he replied. "Perhaps you could wait in the lobby for her," he suggested and then turned his back on the sixth Doctor.

Muttering under his breath, the sixth Doctor rejoined Peri and the man who they thought was Spike Summers. "They won't release any information," he huffed. "Don't they know who I am?" he asked indignantly.

Peri shook her head. It was times like these that she missed the fifth version of the Doctor she had traveled with initially. "No, Doctor, I suppose they don't," she replied.

John looked out across the lobby and saw an attractive human-feline who was swishing her tail seductively. He caught her eye and she winked at him before ducking into a bathroom. "Um… will you two excuse me for a moment?" John asked, clearly distracted. "There's something I have to take care of," he added. Without waiting for them to respond, John headed off to the same bathroom the cat woman had gone into.

The sixth Doctor looked at Peri, hoping she could explain what the other human was doing. Peri met his gaze and shrugged her shoulders. She plopped down into one of the large, comfy chairs scattered about the lobby. She squirmed as the chair took measurements of her weight and body shape, conforming itself to be the perfect seat for her. The sixth Doctor did likewise. He had a chair similar to the one he was sitting on back in the TARDIS, but that one had gotten stuck on his third incarnation who was both taller and thinner than him. After the chair had gotten stuck, it just didn't feel right.

After sitting for 10 minutes, Buffy, Spike, and a very handsome man Peri had never seen before strode into the hotel. The way the man simply _walked_made Peri tingly in places one didn't speak about in public. It took a moment before she was able to drag her eyes off of him and look at Buffy and Spike. Peri's eyebrow rose in surprise when she noticed Spike had bleached his hair again.

Before Peri could ask about Spike's hair, Buffy gestured towards the sixth Doctor. "Immortal, this is the Doctor and his Companion, Peri," she introduced.

Jack stepped forward and took Peri's hand. He held it to his lips and kissed it softly. Several different strategies for getting her gown off of her started to form in his mind before his lips touched her hand. He shook his head and forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. Jack dropped Peri's hand and turned to get a closer look at the Doctor. Disappointment was clearly etched on Jack's face. He had been expecting someone much more attractive considering how River spoke about him.

The sixth Doctor was about to say something snarky, but he was interrupted by his older self and Faith running up to them. The tenth Doctor placed a friendly hand on Jack's shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here, but I'm really glad you showed up, Jack," he told his old friend.

Spike did a double take. "Jack? The Immortal's name is… Jack?" he demanded. "I always thought it would be something cool like Antonio or Victor… or…or even maybe William, but never Jack," he added, disappointed.

Jack blinked his eyes a few times to give him time to figure out what John's game was. To give himself even more time, he turned to face the tall, skinny man who had his hand on his shoulder. Jack looked him over from top to bottom. He had always been partial to men in suits and the brown pin striped one this guy was wearing really turned him on. "I'm sorry have we met before?" Jack inquired. He was certain he would have remembered meeting someone as delicious as this.

The tenth Doctor sighed in exasperation. "Cute, Jack," he muttered. "This isn't the time for my best friend to start playing games," he warned. Jack frowned in confusion at the Doctor's words. The tenth Doctor watched Jack's reaction and smacked himself on the forehead. "Oh… I'm thick… thickety, thick, thick," he swore. When he was done ranting, the tenth Doctor looked directly into Jack's eyes. "_When_are you, Jack?" he demanded.

Jack took a step back. "I'm sorry, I don't know you well enough to answer that question," he stated, buying more time.

Buffy stepped in between Jack and the tenth Doctor. "Immortal, this is also the Doctor," she told him.

Jack pointed at the sixth Doctor and said, "I thought you said he was the Doctor."

The sixth Doctor spoke up. "I am, and so is he," he stated. "We're the same person at different points in our Timestream," he said, clearly irritated.

Jack dismissively shook his head. "That's not possible. The Blinovitch Limitation Effect makes it impossible for multiple versions of a person to be at the same exact place in Space / Time," he recited.

The sixth Doctor snorted in disgust. "For lower beings yes, but it doesn't apply to higher forms of life such as the Time Lords," he explained as if he were speaking to a particularly dense child.

Jack chuckled at what the sixth Doctor had said. "Time Lords, yeah right. They're a myth," he snorted.

"Jack, like I said, we don't have time for this. Use your Vortex Manipulator to scan my DNA," the tenth Doctor ordered.

Jack smirked again and decided to play along. He held up his wrist and switched the manipulator to scan mode. Jack's grin slowly faded to be replaced by a confused frown. The manipulator was taking an awfully long time to match this guy's DNA in the species database. Eventually, the device on Jack's wrist beeped and beamed a holographic representation of the Doctor's DNA above his wrist. Below the strange, ever shifting representation of this man's DNA were the words, "Time Lord."

Jack noticed that the group around him had become unnaturally quiet. He couldn't blame them. It wasn't everyday a being out of legend turned up in a hotel on the New Vegas strip. Jack looked up and saw that the others weren't even looking at the holo display, but rather at something behind him. Jack closed the leather flap over his manipulator and turned around. What he saw stunned him as much as it did the others.

John "Lewis" stepped out of the bathroom with a satisfied smile on his face. As soon as he got out the door, he used his finger to drag along the top of his tongue. "Great sex, but I hate getting fur in my mouth," he muttered. When he got the offending bit of fur off his tongue, he looked over and saw Jack with the big breasted woman and her dorky friend, the Doctor.

John hurried over to his partner and froze a few steps from him when another man stepped around Jack. The man looked like a mirror image of himself. The only difference between them was the color of their hair. The two men walked towards each other and stopped an arm's length away.

Spike raised his right hand at the same time John had decided to raise his left. They switched hands and waved in unison. To see if this really was a duplicate of himself, Spike changed and put his vampire game face on. His brows developed ridges, his eyes changed to a feral yellow, and his fangs descended. The other man yelped and backed away quickly, his face still human. John tried to reach for his sonic pistol, but Spike's hand moved inhumanly fast and trapped the other man's hand at his waist. "Don't," was the only thing Spike said before releasing John's hand and shifting his face to look human again.

The tenth Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and took readings of first Spike and then his look alike. He looked at the screwdriver and his eyes widen in shock for just an instant. "That's interesting," he muttered.

Spike and John replied in unison, "What's interesting?"

The tenth Doctor hastily put his sonic screwdriver back in his jacket pocket. "Um... I'll have to explain later," he said lamely. He had decided that he would wait until John was out of earshot to tell Spike what he had learned. "Right now, we have to go find a fat, blue man who has the segment on him," he explained.

Jack looked at the tall, skinny Doctor curiously. "Dorium?" he inquired.

The tenth Doctor smiled at Jack. "Yes, that's him. Some shark faced being kidnapped him with the help of some vampires," he replied.

"Vampires? What the hell are you talking about?" John swore.

In response, Spike put on his game face again and raised his hand. "Oh... vampires," John said hastily and backed away. Spike changed his face back and took Buffy's hand.

"What the hell is Teeth doing here?" Spike moaned. He had borrowed some "currency" from the shark faced creature back when he was still missing his soul. The fact that said currency had been a dozen adorable kittens was one of the things Spike was least proud of. Spike had paid off his debt and had hoped that he would never have to see the chum breathed bastard again.

The tenth Doctor cocked his head to the side and looked at Spike. "You know this creature?" he inquired.

Spike looked down at his shoes, ashamed of his dealings with the loan shark. "Teeth is a shark demon that I hoped I would never have to meet again. I had made a deal with him and it would have been dishonorable to kill him after I paid off my debt," he explained.

The sixth Doctor rolled his eyes. "Demons...," he scoffed.

The tenth Doctor shrugged his shoulders and stated, "Trans-dimensional aliens." The sixth Doctor responded with a knowing nod of his head.

Jack chuckled before speaking. "The boss always warned me that whenever you showed up, things got... complicated," he told the tenth Doctor. When he saw the Time Lord start to ask a question he added playfully, "Sorry, Doc... spoilers." Jack sobered up and asked, "Any idea where they took Dorium?"

The tenth Doctor pulled out the segment tracer and watched the blue end of the needle swing to the left and then down. "That way," he told the group.

The sixth Doctor shook his head gravely. "That's not good," he muttered. He looked at his older self who was straining to remember the layout of the New Vegas drift station. "Senile... I knew it," he muttered when the tenth Doctor drew a blank. Before he could sense she was moving, Faith had stepped behind the sixth Doctor and smacked him on the back of the head. "Owe!" he swore as he rubbed the rapidly appearing bruise.

"I've had just about enough of your shit," Faith told the sixth Doctor. "Tell me what's down there in five words or less or I'm going to jump start your next regeneration early," she warned coldly.

The sixth Doctor didn't have the courage to try a response like the one Spike had given Buffy during their last year in Sunnydale. Instead, he sheepishly replied, "Docking bays."

Buffy and Faith looked to the tenth Doctor for a better explanation. John butted in and was able to sum things up concisely. "Nice place to dispose of a body. Air is evacuated out of the landing bay and whoosh, the body is shot out into space," he explained.

"Come, on," the tenth Doctor suggested. "I saw a service lift a few blocks from here," he explained as he ran out of the hotel. The rest of the group hurried after them.

**********DrW**********

Faith and Buffy took turns leap frogging down the passage way that led to the private docking bays. Buffy was in the lead when she halted suddenly and held up her right fist. Faith crept up next to her and looked down the side passage they had reached. They saw two vampires standing guard in front of a large blast door. Both halves of the retracting door had a small window in it that the vampires were blocking with their bodies. Faith was about to rush down the long hall, but Buffy stopped her with a hand on her chest.

"Look at the vamp on the right," Buffy suggested. The vampire had his hand resting near a mauve colored panel. They had both traveled with the Doctor long enough to know that where humans used the color red as a warning, the rest of the universe preferred to use mauve. "They'll press the alarm long before we can get to them," Buffy groused.

Spike silently made his way up to the slayers. His vampire hearing had picked up on their conversation. "Don't worry. I've got this one," he told his wife. He pulled out a wooden stake he had stored in a special pocket of his jacket, much like the one the Doctor used for his sonic screwdriver. "May I borrow 'Mr. Pointy', Pet?" he asked Buffy. Without even a hint of hesitation, she handed her husband her favorite stake. Spike tucked a stake up each sleeve of his tuxedo jacket and then put on his game face.

Spike strolled around the corner like he hadn't a care in the world. He smiled and nodded his head at the other vampires. The two guards nodded back in reply. "I just got off a transport and heard this was the place to go if a bloke like us needed work," he lied. Spike kept his smile plastered on his face until he stood right in front of the guards.

The vampire on the right smiled at Spike, showing off a perfect set of white teeth. "You got that right, brother. All the blood we can drink and a fairly decent dental plan," he replied.

Spike made a face that showed he was interested. Without warning, he relaxed the hold he had on the end of his sleeves and the two stakes dropped into his palms. The other vampires had just enough time to give Spike a startled look before he drove the stakes through their hearts. Twin clouds of dust settled to the floor as Spike spun the stakes around in his hands. "Coast is clear," he called out behind him.

Buffy skipped down the corridor, took "Mr. Pointy" back, and kissed her husband on the cheek. "I love you. Even if you did use to cheat at kitten poker," she whispered.

The rest of the group caught up to them and they took turns peeking through the windows. "I count 35 fang boys in there," Faith told the others after she stepped away from the window.

Jack looked through the window and verified Faith's count of the enemy. "Yep, I see a whole bunch of 'vampires', a level 6 aquatic humanoid, and a blue guy who needs to cut back on the calories," he relayed before stepping away himself. "So, anything special we should know about vampires?" he inquired.

Buffy pointed to Spike. "They're about 4 times as strong as an average human, almost that much quicker, and the only way to kill them is a wood stake through the heart, decapitation, or burning them," she responded.

Jack and John shared a smile and then drew out their sonic pistols. They made a few adjustments before John said, "Decapitation it is."

The tenth Doctor put his hand on John's arm. "Sorry, John, but I need you to stay here and keep an eye on the other me and Peri," he told him.

The sixth Doctor sputtered and stamped a foot in anger. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "I can be of tremendous use in there," he protested.

Faith stepped in front of the sixth Doctor and for once her eyes weren't hostile. "You're not a warrior," she pointed out. "This needs to be quick and clean if we want to rescue the blueberry in there. You would only slow us down," she told him.

The sixth Doctor wasn't about to give in that easy. "Oh... and I suppose that _he_is a warrior?" he asked sarcastically, pointing at his older self. The tenth Doctor locked eyes with the sixth Doctor. The tired, pain filled look in the tenth Doctor's eyes shut up the sixth one like a mute button. The sixth Doctor was the first to look away, scared of what he had seen.

Buffy stepped forward and took charge. "Here's the plan. Our Doctor rescues the fat guy. Faith will cover him while the rest of us draw the vamps off them," she told her friends. When no one disagreed, she turned around and reached for the door control.

The shark demon known as Teeth, chuckled as two of his vampire henchmen held Dorium by the shoulders. "Let's see... what part of you I should bite off first?" he chuckled. "I hear that your species has exceptionally tasty fingers," he taunted.

One of the vampires grabbed Dorium's hand and held it out for Teeth to snack on. The vampire's face suddenly looked surprised. Both he and Teeth had time to glance down and see the point of a wood stake sticking out of his chest before the vampire turned to dust. Once the dust settled, Teeth saw the far hatch was open and a group of humans were running into the cargo hold. Teeth took one look at the blond vampire standing shoulder to shoulder with a petite, blonde woman and ran off to hide behind some cargo crates. He had no idea how they were at this point in Time and Space, but the loan shark still remembered what Spike and the Slayer looked like.

The vampire that was still holding onto Dorium spun around just in time to get kicked in the stomach by Faith with a flying side kick. He was knocked back several feet, giving Faith ample time to regain her balance and snatch up the stake she had just thrown.

The vampire noticed the tall, skinny man who casually walked up and stood next to the brunette with the stake. "I wouldn't if I were you," the tenth Doctor warned.

"Yeah, why not?" the vampire asked sarcastically.

The cold look in the tenth Doctor's eyes made the vampire pause. The tenth Doctor indicated Faith with his hand. "This is Faith Lehane," he said simply. Turning slowly, the tenth Doctor pointed out the rest of his team. "Over there is Spike. Next to him is his wife, Buffy Summers. The bloke on the other side of the room is the Immortal," he said nonchalantly. He made eye contact with the vampire again. "I'm the Doctor," he said, his voice as cold as the Void.

The vampire thought for a brief moment and then jerked his thumb over his shoulder at another door. "I'm... going to go now," he said slowly, stepping backwards. When he was certain he was out of Faith's arm reach, he turned around and ran as fast as his undead legs could carry him.

Faith watched the vampire run off and casually staked another vampire who was trying to sneak up on them. "It's cute how you always try and give the bad guys a chance," she told her boyfriend.

Teeth watched the mayhem being dished out to his henchmen. Buffy and Spike were working together like a well-oiled machine. The dark haired human standing alone was blasting off head after head with his sonic pistol. He estimated it would all be over in minutes and it wasn't going to be his side that won. His enormous mouth widened into a huge, pointed teeth filled smile when he came up with a way to save his own skin before one of the Slayers decided to turn it into a pair of matching handbags. He sprinted to the door where his attackers had come through. When he reached the controls next to the door, he slammed down on the glass covering the emergency fire alarm. The glass broke and Teeth pushed the button as he hopped through the door way. The sliding doors sealed behind him. Teeth turned around and watched through the window as the station responded to a "fire". It was a shame to lose all of his henchmen, but his life was worth way more than theirs in his opinion.

Faith looked up at the ceiling when an alarm sounded and mauve flashing lights started to strobe. She didn't notice the tenth Doctor dropping to the floor and grabbing a hold of a cargo chain bolted into the floor. After a few moments, the gravity in the cargo bay switched so that "down" was now the wall where the exterior bay doors were located. With a thunderous rush of air, the cargo bay door on the wall slid open, evacuating all of the oxygen into space. As she fell towards the open door, Faith managed to turn over and grab the tenth's Doctor leg. Unfortunately for the Doctor, Dorium had done the same thing with his other leg.

Air continued to rush past them as Faith looked up at her boyfriend. She saw that he was starting to lose his grip on the chain that was the only thing keeping them from being blown out into space. Faith shouted over the rushing wind, "Are you sure he has the segment on him?" The tenth Doctor managed to nod his head while he threw everything else he had into keeping them alive. Faith met her boyfriend's eyes and gave him a sad smile. "I love you! Now go save the Universe!" she yelled.

Before the Doctor could say anything, Faith let go of her lover's leg and fell towards the doors and the vacuum beyond them. To the tenth Doctor, Time seemed to slow to a painful crawl. He watched Faith drop towards her death, her eyes glued on him the entire time. She didn't see the man in the black tuxedo dive out of the doors with a cargo strap tied around his chest.

Faith thought her arms were going to be torn out of their sockets when Jack grabbed them. She used her Slayer strength to pull herself towards him and wrap one of her arms around his chest. Together, they pulled themselves out of the doorway and up onto the wall that was now acting like the floor.

The tenth Doctor thanked the Vortex and used his free hand to pull out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the fire suppression controls and hit them with a blast of charged sonic energy. The panel blew apart, spewing sparks in all directions. The main station computer read this as a malfunction of the fire suppression system in cargo bay 78 and decided to override the system. The exterior doors slid shut and the gravity went back to normal. A second rush of air was heard as the room was filled with a breathable atmosphere.

Once there was enough air to waste on things like speaking, the tenth Doctor called out, "Buffy… Spike… are you two all right?" He was worried when he didn't receive an answer. His worries were calmed however when he looked over to the other side of the room and saw Buffy and Spike engaged in a "We just cheated death again" snog.

Teeth watched in horror as the main computer put things back in order. He knew it was only a matter of moments before the doors to the rest of the station would unlock and he would have two very irate Slayers out for his blood. Turning to run, Teeth found himself facing the business end of a sonic pistol. "Wait… what?" was all Teeth managed to say. He had just seen Spike sucking face with the Slayer and now here he was pointing a gun at him. Deciding to try and figure out that trick later, Teeth improvised. "Spiiiike, buddy, pal… you wouldn't shoot an old business associate, would you?" he pleaded.

John's jaw tightened in anger. "You need to know two things before I send you off to that big sushi bar in the sky," he stated coldly. "The first thing is that you just tried to kill my partner and lover," he snarled.

When John didn't go on, Teeth took the bait and asked, "What's the other thing?"

John smiled at Teeth with all of the warmth of midnight stroll on Pluto. "I'm not Spike," he said sweetly as he pulled the trigger. The sonic energy dissipated the molecular bonds holding Teeth's head together. A red mist hung in the air where the shark demon's head used to be as the rest of him fell to the floor. As soon as the doors unlocked, John strode into the cargo bay, not caring if the sixth Doctor or Peri were following.

Faith brushed herself off and pulled Jack to his feet with one hand. She took a moment to brush off his tuxedo as well. "Thanks, Jack," she whispered to him. "It's no wonder why skinny over there thinks of you as his best friend," she told him, indicating the tenth Doctor with a jerk of her head. Jack just flashed his famous smile and walked over to where Dorium and the skinny Time Lord were standing.

Since the tenth Doctor was busy pointing a device with a blue glowing end at the fat man, Jack decided he might as well get his part over with. "I want the data cube you have on you," he told Dorium sternly.

Dorium frowned in confusion. The only data cube he had on him was his weekly grocery list. "Why? What possible use can it be to you?" he inquired.

Jack was thankful Dorium actually had a data cube on him. It had been a calculated risk starting out things like that. "You know exactly which cube I'm talking about," Jack said with a sneer. "In case you've forgotten, it's the one with all of the secret files the Time Agency doesn't want falling into the wrong hands," he told him.

Dorium's frown deepened. He had never liked the Time Agency and wished he really did possess something like that. He could think of at least three do-gooder organizations that would pay handsomely for that kind of information.

"Hand over the data cube… now!" Jack demanded.

Dorium sighed and held out his grocery list cube. Using the skills that had helped him become head of the New Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Dorium kept his expression neutral as Jack palmed him a second data cube when they exchanged the grocery list. "Well I hope you're happy, Time Scout. I was hoping to sell that here in the near future," he pouted.

Jack locked eyes with Dorium. "I'm sure you would have sold it as soon as you could," he stated, letting Dorium know that some of the files would only be relevant for a short time.

Dorium blinked his eyes a little slower than normal to acknowledge he understood what the Time Agency traitor was telling him. Changing gears, Dorium turned to look at Faith and the skinny man pointing the strange contraption at him. "I owe you both my life, and I hate being in debt to anyone," he pouted. "What can I offer you to repay the debt?" he asked, hopeful they would want something easy.

Faith had been watching how the blue end of the segment tracer had moved while her boyfriend had moved it back and forth. The tracer stayed still as long as it was pointing at the floor length robe Dorium was wearing. "I'll take your robe," she said simply.

Again, Dorium found himself frowning in confusion. While the robe had been in his family for as long as they could remember, it had gone out of fashion centuries ago. He only wore it around his quarters went he felt a bit chilled. He slipped off the robe and gladly handed it to Faith. He turned his face and made the mistake of looking the tenth Doctor in the eyes. Dorium's race was mildly Time sensitive and the terrible energies he saw behind those eyes told him exactly who he was dealing with. There was nothing he possessed that could be of any worth to a Time Lord. With a heavy sigh, Dorium crossed his arms over his chest with his palms flat. "I acknowledge life debt to the Lonely God," he said as if the words were extremely sour in his mouth. He could only pray to the great Profit Maker that Destroyer of Worlds would never call in the debt.

The tenth Doctor crossed his arms over his chest with his palms out. He recognized the ritual and knew it would have been a horrible insult to the blue fat man had he not accepted the offering of a life debt. He had no intention of ever calling in the debt, but a small part of his mind filed away the information just in case. When the tenth Doctor dropped his arms, Dorium hurried out of the cargo bay, eager to start lining up buyers for his new acquisition.

Jack watched Dorium waddle away and saw John was standing in a corner with his back turned towards the rest of the group. A blue glow peeking over his shoulder told Jack that John was speaking to their boss over a holo link. Eventually, the blue glowed snapped off and John turned around. His expression was a mix of sadness and anticipation. "New assignment?" Jack asked once John was standing with him.

John nodded his head and looked over his Victorian tuxedo. "At least now I know why the wardrobe guys gave me this suit," he chuckled. He looked up at his partner. "The boss said she wants to talk with you about something back at headquarters and is sending me off on a solo mission," he explained. John input the coordinates into his Vortex Manipulator as he spoke. "At least this is a pretty easy assignment. All I have to do is go back to the 19th century of old Earth, seduce, marry, and then abandon some poor woman. The nice part is the Agency has already set up a large bank account in my name during that period," he said. With a flourish, John pressed the activator button and the orange and white energies of the Vortex started to form a portal off to one side.

Jack kissed his partner before he left. As John was stepping into the portal, Jack shouted, "What's your name for this mission in case I get bored and want to look you up?"

John was fading from view and the group was barely able to make out his reply. "Pratt… John Pratt," he shouted back. Everyone else stared in shock as John vanished into the Vortex.

**********DrW**********

Buffy and Spike ushered the sixth Doctor and Peri into the TARDIS to give their Doctor, Faith, and Jack some privacy. "Thank you again, Jack," the tenth Doctor told his old friend. "I can't imagine what life would be like without my Slayer," he chuckled.

Faith kissed Jack's cheek. "I owe you one," she told him. When Jack gave her a suggestive smile, she punched him the arm.

Jack rubbed the sore spot while he laughed. "My pleasure. I figured since you're almost as good looking as me, it would have been a crime to let you get blown out into space," he teased. Faith rolled her eyes, kissed Jack's cheek again, and took Dorium's robe into the TARDIS.

Jack watched Faith's butt the entire time she walked into the strange blue box. "If either of you need a bit of variety…" he stated, offering his services.

"Some things never change," the tenth Doctor chuckled. "Before we go, there is something I would like to do for you," the tenth Doctor offered. He rolled his eyes at the eager look Jack gave him. He placed a hand on either side of Jack's head and closed his eyes, concentrating.

Jack winced in pain as he felt his mental shields brushed aside with a ridiculous amount of ease. When the Doctor dropped his hands, Jack shook his head to clear it. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

"I just made a secure backup of your memories," the tenth Doctor replied. "Because they're encrypted, the memory wipe will just pass them by," he explained. "Eventually your own mind will decipher it and you'll regain your memories," he told him.

Jack looked around to make sure there was no one in ear shot. "You know then… what's going to happen," he surmised.

The tenth Doctor put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Yes, and for what's it's worth, your plan works. The Time Agency is dismantled," he promised. Jack's shoulders relaxed. "One other thing, Jack," the Doctor stated. "I just want you to know that I'm proud of you," he said and pulled his friend in for a hug.

When they broke the hug Jack was awestruck. The last Time Lord had just told him that he was proud of him. Jack felt like he could accomplish anything. As the tenth Doctor walked into the TARDIS, Jack called out, "How long will it take for my memories to return?"

The tenth Doctor stopped in the doorway. "I had to ensure the memory wipe wouldn't find them, so I had to encrypt them pretty heavily. It could take up to 2,300 years for you sort them all out," he replied.

Jack looked crestfallen. "Fat lot of good that will do me then," he sighed.

The tenth Doctor smiled cryptically at Jack. "Oh… I don't know about that. You have all the time in the world," he said and ducked into the TARDIS.

Jack stepped back a few steps when he heard an odd sliding and grinding noise coming from the blue box. The odd conveyance slowly faded out of sight revealing a poster than had been blocked by the TARDIS. It read, "**The Time War Museum. See artifacts from the legendary war including the remains of the last Dalek. Coming soon to the New Excalibur Hotel.**"


	18. Chapter 18

**TARDIS**

As soon as the tenth Doctor was inside the TARDIS, his younger self began complaining. "This would have gone a lot smoother if I had been in charge," the sixth Doctor said loudly. "If I were in charge, I wouldn't be wasting our time chatting with an omni-sexual Time Scout," he fumed.

Without saying a word, Faith held out the floor length robe they had acquired from Dorium Maldovar. The tenth Doctor touched the blue tip of the segment tracer to the cloth. With a bright flash of light, the robe disappeared to reveal the segment's true form, a crystal rectangular prism. The length was exactly twice that of the height or width. Faith turned it over in her hands, caught by its beauty.

"Let's get on with things. Looking at the pretty crystal isn't getting me back to _my_TARDIS any sooner," the sixth Doctor complained from across the control room.

Faith looked her boyfriend in the eyes. "How mad would you be if I put this thing to a really good use?" she asked, jerking her head towards the sixth Doctor.

The tenth Doctor crossed his arms, held his face with one hand, and shook his head. "Faith… you know how I feel about violence," he muttered.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" the sixth Doctor demanded.

Lowering his hand, the tenth Doctor met Faith's eyes. "But, there are times when your hand is forced," he said. "You have my permission to do whatever you think is necessary. Just remember, he has to live so that he can die later and regenerate a couple more times before he becomes me," he reminded her.

Faith skipped forward and kissed the tenth Doctor on the cheek. When she was done, she spun around and held out the key segment menacingly. She tapped her palm with the large crystals and walked silently up the catwalk to the center console. Buffy and Spike edged their way down the other catwalk, giving Faith plenty of room to do whatever she had planned. Once Faith was on the raised platform, she glared at the sixth Doctor. "Ever since you got here, I've wanted to do this,"' she said coldly as she raised the segment over her head. The sixth Doctor's eyes widen in fear and he pulled Peri in front of him to act as a human shield. Instead of bashing the sixth Doctor in the head with the segment, Faith carefully laid it down next to the wheels and knobs that controlled the TARDIS' temporal shields.

The sixth Doctor stared in horror at what Faith had done. "You foolish girl! Do you have any idea of what that could do?" he screamed. Faith watched as the sixth Doctor and Peri faded from sight. Before she was completely gone, Peri gave Faith a cheery goodbye wave.

"No, I don't know what that flashing button means," a deeper voice said from the where the sixth Doctor was standing. "How about we push it and find out what it does?" the voice suggested. A second later, a tall man wearing a brown suit with a darker brown fedora stood hunched over the console. A ridiculously long, multi colored scarf was wrapped around his neck several times. A woman wearing a light blue blouse and white mini skirt stood next to him.

"Pardon me," the forth Doctor said to Faith, as he scooted around the console to get a look at a different scanner. He stopped suddenly and slowly turned around as he registered the different surroundings. His eyes darted around the control room before coming to rest on Faith. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he greeted her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a white, waxed paper bag. "Jelly Baby?" he offered.

"Sure, why not?" Faith accepted and popped a red Jelly Baby in her mouth. Her expression was one of pleasant surprise as she chewed the candy. After she swallowed, she looked over at her boyfriend. "That was really good," she told him. "Didn't taste a thing like the one you gave me last week," she chided. "What did you do, change brands or something?" she inquired.

The tenth Doctor ran his hand through his messy hair. "Um… not exactly," he muttered. "It's the same brand, in fact it's entirely possible that they're from the same bag," he admitted.

Faith caught on and looked a little annoyed. Her version of the Doctor was around 500 years older than the one that had just shown up. "That explains why they tasted stale," she stated. She stepped over to the tenth Doctor and playfully punched his arm. "Has it ever occurred to you to clean that pocket out?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor rubbed his sore arm. "I've meant to, but something always comes up and I forget about it," he admitted.

The woman with the fourth Doctor stepped forward and shook Buffy and Spike's hands. "Hello, I'm Sarah Jane Smith," she greeted.

The tenth Doctor couldn't keep the smile off his face, just like when he had met her at the Deffry Vale School, far in her personal future. "Yes, you are," he repeated.

Sarah Jane turned around and looked at the young, skinny man in the pin striped suit. She looked him up and down and noticed the red trainers that didn't match the suit. Sarah Jane had witnessed the Doctor regenerate from his third life into his fourth and realized this man must be one of his future versions. "Doctor, I presume," she stated.

The tenth Doctor continued to smile. "That's my Sarah Jane, brilliant as always," he complemented her. He snapped out of his nostalgia and looked at his younger, even taller self. "I already know your Companion, let me introduce you to mine," he offered. The tenth Doctor motioned towards Spike and Buffy. "Those are my good friends, Spike and Buffy Summers," he said.

The fourth Doctor hurried over to them and enthusiastically shook their hands. "Pleasure to meet you," he told them, sincerity in his voice. He let go of Spike's hand and then leaned forward, squinting. The fourth Doctor leaned back and turned to face his older self. "He looks just like William Pratt," he observed.

Spike sighed and said, "I am William Pratt. I changed my name when I got married," he explained.

The fourth Doctor smiled even more and took Spike's hand again, shaking it. "Your poems truly moved me," he shared. The fourth Doctor decided to ask his older self whether or not he had told William about the whole Anyanka incident. He turned around and looked at Faith. "And who might you?" he asked warmly, offering his hand.

Faith shook the offered hand. "I'm Faith," she replied.

The tenth Doctor stepped up behind Faith and put his hands on her shoulders. "She's my girlfriend," he said proudly.

"Really?" the fourth Doctor asked rhetorically. "That's wonderful," he stated. The fourth Doctor took a step forward and whispered in the tenth Doctor's ear. "Did we finally give up being celibate?" he asked.

Faith nodded her head vigorously. "Oh yeah he did," she answered for her boyfriend.

The fourth Doctor clapped the tenth on the back in congratulation. "That's a relief," he sighed. Looking around the control room, he took in all of the differences from his version of the TARDIS. "Coral theme?" he inquired. The tenth Doctor just nodded, amused by the fourth. "Not bad," he said. Drawing himself back to events at hand, he looked at his older self. "Since there are two of us here, I take it something bad is happening?" he asked.

The tenth Doctor stepped away from Faith and leaned on the control console. "6 minutes and 9 seconds bad," he admitted.

"Aaahh," the fourth doctor replied. "The High Council decided to put its best man on the job… whatever it is?" he pressed.

The tenth Doctor refused to look at his younger self and slid around the controls to put the Time Rotor in between them. "Something like that," he lied.

The fourth Doctor pulled out a red yo-yo from his jacket pocket and leaned back on the console. He simply stood there, playing with the yo-yo until the safety buffer time was up. At 10 seconds past 6 minutes, he caught the yo-yo in his hand and put it away. "And I believe that is time," he announced. "What trouble have we gotten into this time?" he asked with a broad smile.

Faith put her hand on the tenth Doctor's arm. "I got this one," she offered. She took in a deep breath before speaking. "Eye of Harmony was turned into a human, universe collapsing because she can't hold her human form. We're looking for the segments to the Key of Time to keep everything from turning into cosmic shit," she explained. Spike snickered at Faith's bluntness and Buffy just rolled her eyes.

Despite how brash the young American woman seemed to be, Sarah Jane found herself intrigued. "What's the Key of Time?" she asked the fourth Doctor.

The fourth Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea," he admitted.

The tenth Doctor smacked his forehead suddenly. "Right… if I'm traveling with Sarah Jane then I haven't met the Guardians or been sent to look for it the first time," he exclaimed. With a tilt of his head, he added, "And I obviously haven't gotten a look at the Logopolis code yet."

"I've always wanted to go to Logopolis," the fourth Doctor said cheerfully. Faith bit her lip and walked around the fourth Doctor to get to the tenth. She knew all about the events that started on Logopolis and eventually led to the fourth Doctor's death on Earth.

The tenth Doctor pushed himself away from the control console. "Ok, quick summary Faith Lehane style," he said, winking at his girlfriend. "The Key of Time rewrites the source code of the Universe. It's broken into six segments, of which we have found three," he said quickly. He placed the segment tracer into its slot in the navigation panel. "This feeds us the coordinates and we go and retrieve the next segment which is disguised as something else," he explained while reading the new coordinates for the fourth segment. Frowning, the tenth Doctor took out his brainy specs and reread the numbers. "The next segment happens to be in the middle of the Gythoosh Star Void," he muttered.

"What's the ga… ga… the Star Void thingy?" Buffy asked, not quite having a handle on the first word.

"Gythoosh," the fourth Doctor supplied.

"Bless you," Spike said automatically since it sounded so much like a sneeze.

Buffy folded her arms across her chest, waiting for an answer. The tenth Doctor put away his brainy specs and pulled Sarah Jane by the hand to stand midway down the catwalk leading to the front doors. "Sarah Jane is your galaxy," he said and then raced over to Buffy and had her stand on the walkway leading to the rest of the TARDIS. "Buffy represents the Mayall's Object, a galaxy rather far off from yours," he explained. Waving his hand between the two women he stated, "This big empty space between Sarah Jane and Buffy is the Gythoosh Star Void."

"Bugger," Spike swore. Nova had been one of his favorite television shows and he had a pretty good grasp of how much empty space they were talking about. "Extremely small needle in an absurdly huge haystack," he muttered.

The fourth Doctor walked over and clapped Spike on the back. "Exactly," he agreed. "We can always hope that the coordinates are spot on and whatever this segment thing is has a big flashing beacon on top," he offered, always the optimist.

Sarah Jane walked back up the catwalk to stand next to Buffy and Spike while the Doctors prepared the TARDIS for flight. "So, how did you two end up meeting the Doctor?" she asked.

"My friends and I were fighting a big evil that was about to enslave the Earth and then move on to take over everything else," Buffy replied. "Doc showed up out of nowhere and saved the day," she added.

Sarah turned to look at the Doctors who were arguing over what a certain set of knobs did on one of the hexagonal panels surrounding the Time Rotor. She smiled when she realized how similar some of their mannerisms were. She continued to smile she turned to face Buffy and Spike again. "Sounds like a typical week for him," she joked.

Spike chuckled a bit at that thought. "You're right. It's never dull when you're around him," he agreed. "One moment you're fighting zombies on an alien planet and the next you're trying to save a population of giant bears from an evil human corporation," he sighed.

Sarah Jane nodded her head. "I know exactly what you mean," she replied. "Just last week the Doctor and I were investigating a 15th century church said to be haunted and a half naked Time Agent suddenly appeared in front of us," she told them. "When the Doctor pointed at him and told him he wasn't wearing any pants, the Time Agent said that sometimes happens with Vortex Manipulation," she relayed to them. "When the Doctor pointed out that the man wasn't wearing any underwear either, the cheeky bastard winked at us and said that happens all of the time," she stated, blushing slightly. "The Doctor grabbed his wrist, activated his Vortex Manipulator, and sent the bloke back to whenever he came from," she chuckled. "As for me, I was simply speechless," see admitted. "It's not every day a man pops out of thin air naked from the waist down. Especially one as handsome as that," she said.

Buffy and Spike grinned at each other and nodded. "Jack," they said in unison.

"I take it you know this gentleman?" Sarah Jane inquired.

Spike tossed another stick of gum in his mouth as he remembered his last meeting with the Immortal. "Too well, I think," he responded.

The tenth Doctor input the final coordinates, cranked a handle, pumped a plunger two times, and flew the TARDIS through the Vortex to their intended destination. When they arrived, he raced around the different control panels looking at the various scanners. When he was done, he leaned back and thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

"What is it?" Faith asked curiously.

The tenth Doctor adjusted the exterior shields and walked to the front doors. He opened the doors and pointed outside at a bright light that was winking on and off. "Big flashing beacon," he pointed out, obviously surprised it had been that easy.

With the combined skills of both Doctors piloting the TARDIS they managed to get within a few feet of the beacon after overshooting it twice. The doors were open and the Doctors stood in the entryway, looking at what they had found. A black metallic cube measuring a meter on each side floated just outside of the doors. Metal cooling fins were evident on four of the side. Black burn marks were clearly evident on at least three sides. "Is that what I think it is?" the fourth Doctor asked.

"It would explain why it survived when everything else blew up. Key segments are indestructible," the tenth Doctor replied. He reached out to grab the fourth Doctor's hand. "Hold on, I'm going to try to grab it and pull it inside," he said. The tenth Doctor held onto the fourth Doctor's hand and reached out into the darkness to grab the large box. He was able to get a hold on one of the cooling fins and pulled it back into the TARDIS.

As soon as the box was past the front doors, the gravity inside the TARDIS pulled the box to the floor with a loud thump. The fourth Doctor leaned from side to side as he tried to figure out where to grab the heavy thing. "We should probably take it up near the control console so our TARDIS can try and interface with it," he suggested. The other Doctor nodded in agreement and they both tried to lift the box without success.

Faith and Buffy walked over to them and gently pushed the Time Lords aside. With one hand each, they easily lifted the box and carried it up the catwalk. When they were next to the Time Rotor, they gently let it down.

The tenth Doctor noted the shocked look on his younger self's face. "They are the result of the Other tinkering with human DNA to develop the perfect vampire slayer," he tried to explain.

The fourth Doctor narrowed his eyes at the tenth. "Vampires are just a legend our nannies tell to keep Gallifreyan children in line," he stated sarcastically.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot, you haven't fought the vampire king yet," the tenth Doctor said suddenly. He led his younger self back up the catwalk with a hand on his elbow. "Trust me, no one knows better than us that the great vampires were very, very real," he assured the fourth Doctor.

Sarah Jane leaned from side to side as she looked at the large device the two young women carried. "What is it?" she inquired.

"This is the central data matrix from a TARDIS," the fourth Doctor replied.

"A whatsy?" Buffy asked, feigning ignorance.

Faith leaned over to Buffy and said, "It's a TARDIS hard drive," she explained.

The fourth Doctor snatched off his hat and twisted it in his hands. "It is absolutely NOT a hard drive," he exclaimed. "This matrix is one of the most advanced computers in existence. Comparing its multi-dimensional phasic crystal processors to a magnetic media drive is like comparing a master chef's desert to a Twinkie," he fumed.

"Twinkies last forever," the tenth Doctor chimed in. "I'm still working on that experiment we set up in the academy to see how Twinkies age after prolonged time spans. You know, the one where we eat a Twinkie from the same box every hundred years," he reminded his younger self.

The fourth Doctor put his hat back on. "OK, a Twinkie was a bad example," he admitted. Curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "How is the experiment going?"

The tenth Doctor sucked on his teeth before answering. "Our hypothesis was correct, 900 years later and they taste the same," he replied.

Faith stepped in front of the charred matrix and bent down to look at it. "So how do we connect this thing to old blue?" she asked.

The tenth Doctor kneeled next to her and ran his hand along the side facing them. "If I remember correctly, there should be an I/O port somewhere on the front here," he told her. His fingers found what he was looking for and he slid back a small hatch. As soon as he did, a red beam shot out of a concealed port and struck both the tenth Doctor and Faith. They froze in place and then disappeared.

**********DrW**********

The tenth Doctor woke up facing a cloudy, dark sky. Strange blue lightning bolts arced from cloud to cloud in a dazzling pattern. He rose up on his elbows and looked around. He was lying on some sort of black ground with a grid work of blue energy lines trailing off as far as he could see in all directions. Faith's moans as she woke up forced him to his feet. He found her a few feet away from him. Offering his hand, he helped his girlfriend to her feet. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Faith ran through her usual broken bones / internal injuries checklist and came up with a clean bill of health. "Yeah, I think so. Just sort of disoriented is all," she assured him.

A light appeared on the horizon and started to get brighter as it approached the. "This promises to be interesting," the Doctor stated, eager for a new adventure.

Faith looked down at the black, skin tight suit she was now wearing. Glowing white highlights stood out in a pattern on her torso and limbs. The Doctor was similarly attired. Faith leaned back and ogled her boyfriend's shapely rear in his skin tight suit. "You can say that again," she muttered happily.


	19. Chapter 19

**TARDIS**

Buffy and Spike ran to stand behind the strange black cube that had zapped the tenth Doctor and Faith. "Where's the Doctor?" Buffy demanded.

The fourth Doctor raised his hand to answer Buffy. "I'm right here," he replied. When Buffy just glared at him, he added sheepishly, "Oh... you meant the other one." He took off his hat, folded it, and stuffed it in an outside pocket of his long jacket. "To answer your question, I think the other me and Faith are in here somewhere," he said while tapping on the data matrix with his sonic screwdriver. When the port concealing the beam emitter slid open again, everyone hurried to stand anywhere other than in front of the menacing cube.

From safely behind the cube, Sarah Jane motioned for the remaining Doctor to stand next to her. He edged around the safety railing to stand where she had indicated. "What happened to them, Doctor?" she asked, her journalist habits always on the alert.

The Doctor leaned from side to side as he inspected the data matrix for any other concealed ports. "I saw a similar beam emmitter back on Gallifrey during a field trip while I was at the academy," he replied. "We were studying past High Council Presidents, so Borusa thought it would be a good idea to set up a secure file destination inside one of the sub-routines. Once inside the matrix, we were able to speak with the data ghosts of the past presidents directly," he explained.

"Sorry I asked," Sarah Jane muttered. She looked over at Spike and Buffy. "Does he get any better at explaining things in the future?" she asked hopefully. The Summers shook their heads in a definite no. "I suppose it would be too much to ask for," Sarah Jane sighed.

The Doctor ignored his Companion and continued to look at the cube. "The first thing we need to do to retrieve myself and his Companion from this matrix is render this blasted thing harmless," he said to no one in particular. He snapped his long fingers at pointed at Sarah Jane. "Your makeup mirror, quickly," he demanded, snapping his fingers several more times.

Sarah Jane pulled out her makeup mirror from her skirt pocket and handed it over to the Doctor. "Here you go, Doctor," she said, glad to help. He took the makeup mirror from her, snapped the mirror half off with a quick motion, and handed her back the makeup half. Sarah Jane looked around and put the broken half she was holding down on the console, not wanting to put the loose makeup back in her skirt.

"Now all I need is something with adhesive properties," the fourth Doctor said to himself looking around. "Even a slight bit of adhesiveness will work on the outside skin of a TARDIS matrix," he added. Spike took the piece of gum he had been chewing out of his mouth and offered it to the Doctor. The fourth Doctor looked down at the offered bit of gum and forced a smile onto his face. "That's quite generous of you, Spike, but I prefer fruit flavored gum over spearmint. Thank you anyway," he told Spike graciously.

Spike sighed loudly and snatched the mirror out of the fourth Doctor's hands. He made a point of slowly sticking the gum on the edge of the mirror and then sticking the mirror over the cube's emitter port. When he was done, Spike stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest.

The fourth Doctor looked down at the mirror which was holding in place perfectly and then up to Spike. "Are you sure you're not me as well?" he inquired. "That was quite clever," he praised. Rubbing his hands together, he looked at both Buffy and Spike. "Now then, either of you any good at hacking?" he asked.

Buffy and Spike smiled at each other. "With swords and axes, we're great at hacking," Buffy replied.

"With computers, not so much so," Spike finished Buffy's thought.

Buffy's face lit up as an idea hit her. "But we do know someone who is," she said happily. Buffy took out her "universal roaming" mobile phone the Doctor had modified for her and placed a call.

While Buffy waited for someone to answer, Sarah Jane looked at the phone quizzically. "Doctor, what kind of communication device is that?" she inquired.

The fourth Doctor smiled at his Companion's ever curious nature. "That is a mobile telephone. Judging from their clothes, I would guess our new friends are from some when near the end of the 20th century," he told Sarah Jane. "In less than 30 years from when we first met, nearly everybody in the developed countries on your planet will have one," he stated.

Sarah Jane shook her head in disbelief. "I can't imagine a life where I need to be in constant phone contact," she muttered.

The fourth Doctor chuckled. "That's what everyone said at first, but within ten years of them hitting the market on mass, your species grew to be dependent on the things," he stated. Their conversation was interrupted when someone finally answered Buffy's call.

"Hello," Willow said, her voice strained.

Buffy could tell that her longtime friend had been crying. "Wills, what's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"Oh... hey, Buffy," Willow replied. "Kennedy and I broke up," she stated, trying not to break out in sobs again. "It was a pretty big blow up," she said.

Buffy was torn between two lines of thought. On one hand, she hated to see her friend upset. On the other, Buffy really hated Kennedy and was secretly glad she and Willow weren't together anymore. "Double chocolate swirl bad, or Swiss mocha with mini-marshmallows blended in bad?" she inquired.

Willow sniffed twice before responding. "I'm on my second pint of 'Chunky Monkey' bad," she replied.

"Damn!" Buffy swore. "Listen, I think I have something that will take your mind off that stuck up bitch," she offered. "The Doctor and Faith got sucked into a Time Lord computer and an earlier Doctor needs help hacking into it," she explained.

Willow's tears stopped almost instantly. "The Doctor's in trouble? Must be Thursday," she joked while dashing around her room, grabbing components she would need for a special teleport spell.

Buffy laughed despite their situation. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that does seem to be how he and Faith spend most of their time," she agreed. "Grab whatever you need to hack into this thing, the ice cream, and two extra spoons," she ordered. "Considering the past couple of days I've had, I could use some sugary goodness," she stated.

"OK, got the stuff," Willow told Buffy. "Put your phone down in a clear area and I'll teleport through the signal," she instructed. Buffy walked down the catwalk a bit and put her phone down. She took several steps back when red and orange lights started to swirl above the catwalk. The lights swam and danced around the phone and then rushed together in a brilliant flash of white light. When the light faded, Willow stood over the phone with her laptop tucked under one arm and the ice cream under the other. In her right hand she held an African totem doll and in her left were three spoons. Buffy rushed forward and gave Willow a comforting hug.

Spike stepped forward once Buffy let go. He put a friendly hand on Willow's shoulder. His vampire hearing had picked up on both sides of the phone conversation. "Wish I could say I was sorry that you and the stupid bint broke up, but truth is I never liked her to begin with," he admitted.

Willow put her hand on his and smiled at him, thankful for his support, even if he was a little shy on tact. She stepped closer to the center console when she realized there were other people with them. "Um... hi, I'm Willow," she said waving her hand.

"Hello, I'm Sarah Jane smith and this is the Doctor," she said, introducing herself and her version of the Doctor. "How did you get here?" she asked.

Willow tried to smile and almost succeeded. "I'm a witch. I used a spell to teleport here," she said blandly.

The fourth Doctor's face lit up. "A witch who also happens to be good at hacking?" he asked rhetorically. "Now this promises to be interesting," he told the group.

Sarah Jane was about to ask Willow what she meant by witch, but was sidetracked by Willow's next question. "Sarah Jane Smith? As in the famous investigative reporter, Sarah Jane Smith?" Willow asked in awe. Ever since she had learned about the weird stuff in Sunnydale and consequently the rest of the world, Willow had made it a point to find out which journalists she could rely on to tell the truth when it came to "odd" stories. Sarah Jane Smith was at the top of her list.

Sarah Jane blushed a bit. "I wouldn't say famous," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I've only just begun my career," she told Willow.

The fourth Doctor saw Willow's confused expression. "I picked up Sarah Jane in 1973," he explained.

Buffy had never heard of Sarah Jane, but then again, she spent most of her time killing vampires and demons which left little time for reading. She looked closer at Sarah Jane and saw the young reporters eyes grow huge. Buffy followed her stare and started to chuckle when she saw Sarah Jane was looking at the ice cream container. "No, no... no monkeys were harmed in the making of this ice cream. It's only a funny name," she assured her. "In our time, it's used to deal with particularly bad break ups," she added.

Sarah Jane let out a sigh of relief and then took an offered spoon. After tasting the ice cream, she nodded in appreciation. "I can see how this would help. It's very rich," she stated. Sarah Jane waited for her turn again as Buffy and Willow dug in, sharing in Willow's heartache.

The fourth Doctor started to raise his hand to point at the women, but Spike gently pushed it back down. "It's a woman thing, we're not meant to understand," Spike said. "When you and I first meet, you're over 900 years old and you still can't make heads or tails of how a woman thinks," he told the younger version of his friend.

Once the pint of Chunky Monkey had been scraped clean, Willow walked over to the fourth Doctor. She opened up her laptop and placed it on the center console next to him. "I had some thoughts while I was eating and wanted to see what you think about them," she said rapidly in full tech geek mode.

**********DrW**********

**TARDIS Data Matrix - Information Desert**

Faith squinted at the light that was growing ever closer. After a moment, she was able to tell that the light was actually two separate lights. The tenth Doctor noticed how Faith shifted her balance, ready for a fight. "You know, Faith, there's always a chance that whatever is making those lights might not be hostile towards us," he told her reproachfully. Faith turned her head slightly and gave him a look that told him exactly what she thought about that. The Doctor shook his head and turned to look at the lights as well. "Statistically speaking, it's bound to happen one of these days," he said hopefully.

Even the Doctor found himself shifting to a defensive posture when he was finally able to make two menacing ships gliding over the plain towards them. The "ships" were shaped like giant staples with two long legs pointed towards the ground. A wide body sat between the legs. Both ships were black with angry green energy lines highlighting them. Once the ships got close to them, the Doctor estimated they would be about three stories tall in the physical universe. That thought combined with how unfriendly they looked made him slap his forehead. The Doctor spun around and grabbed Faith's arm. "I'm getting forgetful and thick in my old age," he complained. "I've been in a place like this so many times before, I forgot that you probably haven't," he told Faith. "We're inside the TARDIS data matrix we recovered," he stated. "Right now we are digital representations of ourselves," he explained.

Faith kept her eyes on the crafts that had stopped in front of them. The "bodies" of the staples began to slowly descend with the legs acting like rails. "Let me guess, die in the digital world and you die in the physical world," she said humorlessly.

The Doctor ran his hand through his messy hair. "Yeah... um... the Time Lords in charge of the data matrices thought it would discourage frivolous use of them," he replied. "Now that I think about it, probably not the best design for the users," he admitted.

The Doctor seemed to relax a small bit when what looked like several Judoon troopers in full, black armor piled out of the two ships. Once they were within in ear shot, the Doctor called out, "Blow... snow...mow...go...flow!"

One of the lead soldiers in the rhino shaped helmets turned to look at the soldier on his left. "Do you have any idea of what he just said?" he asked.

The second soldier shrugged his shoulders. "No clue, perhaps his I/O sub-routine is faulty," he offered.

Faith snickered while her boyfriend looked slightly embarrassed. "Universal programing language. Should have thought of that," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

The first digital Judoon unclipped a scanner like device from his waist and pointed it at Faith. A green beam spread out and covered Faith from head to toe. After a short time, the beam shot off and the soldier looked at the readings. "Hum... looks like this one's function is some sort of complex anti-virus program. A real killer if you ask me," he told the second digital Judoon.

The second Judoon let out a low whistle when he looked at the readings as well. "I'm going to enjoy watching this one in the games," he said appreciatively.

The first digital Judoon pointed the scanner at the Doctor and the green beam swept over him. The scanner immediately started flashing a bright mauve. "This one gets to go see the Controller right away," he stated.

Faith stepped forward and balled her fists at her sides. "Like hell the Doctor's going anywhere without me," she threatened.

The squad of digital Judoon took two measured steps backwards. Faith was about to charge them, but she was stopped by the Doctor's hand on her wrist. She looked at his face and he gestured towards the ships with his chin. Faith looked up and saw gun ports had been opened and several unpleasant looking weapons were pointed at them. She was fairly certain she could probably dodge the guns long enough to get into the middle of the digital Judoons, but she doubted the Doctor would be able to do the same. With a nod of her head, Faith relaxed her hands and took a step back as well.

The Judoons split apart and half led Faith to one staple shaped ship while the rest led the Doctor to the other one. As the Doctor stepped onto the rising platform, the second Judoon leaned over to talk with the one holding the scanner. "So what type of program rates an immediate audience with the Controller?" he inquired.

The first digital Judoon scratched the side of his helmet. "Not really sure. I can't make heads or tails of these readings," he admitted. The first Judoon handed the scanner to the second.

The second digital Judoon tilted the scanner from side to side as he tried to make sense of the readings himself. "Got me," he said and handed the scanner back. "Kind of looks like an outdated operating system to me," he offered.

The Doctor looked first stunned and then very angry at those words. "Outdated? I'll have you know I'm in the prime of my life!" he shouted indignantly.

The Doctor sulked silently during their flight over the barren Information Desert. He dropped his hostile attitude once the pair of ships flew over a wall bordering a huge, digital city. The Doctor pressed his face against the window and recognized the layout of the beautiful city immediately. It was a digital representation of the capital city of Gallifrey. Just like in the physical world, the majestic Citadel sat in the exact center of the city flanked on six sides by the six Academy chapters. A nostalgic smile crept across his face as he made out the buildings that made up the Prydonian Chapter where he had spent most of his school days. The only major difference in the city he could see was that where the Cruciform had stood in the physical world, a giant amphitheater now stood instead. The Doctor forced himself to calm down when he saw the other ship break off and take Faith towards the amphitheater.

The ship the Doctor was on banked once and then rose in altitude quickly. The Doctor wasn't all that surprised when they landed near the top of the Citadel at what had been the High Council's private landing pad. He allowed himself to be led into a large chamber with video displays taking up all of the wall space. A large throne on what looked like a rotating base sat in the exact center of the room. His digital captors pushed him gently into the room and then left, shutting the door behind them.

"I knew that you would eventually come, Doctor," a female voice said from the throne. "You always were such a sucker for a distress call," she added sarcastically. The throne turned slowly, letting the Doctor look at the Controller. She was an attractive woman wearing a crimson bodysuit with green energy highlights. Her brown hair hung just below her shoulders. Tremendous intelligence flashed behind her brown eyes. She gave the Doctor one of her most charming smiles.

The Doctor forced a smile on his own face, even though he wanted to throttle the woman in front of him. "Hello, Rani," he said coldly.


	20. Chapter 20

**TARDIS Control Room**

Sarah Jane glanced over to where the fourth Doctor and the young redheaded woman named Willow stood hunched over what Willow had called a "laptop". From her time traveling with the Doctor, Sarah Jane was able to guess that the "laptop" was some sort of miniature computer. Shaking her head in amusement over how much things were going to change in just three decades on Earth, she turned to take a closer look at the interior of the _new_ Doctor's TARDIS. Gone were the white walls and smooth floor she was used to. In their places were brownish-gold walls and a metal mesh floor that looked like it was broken up in pieces to allow easier access to the TARDIS' systems. Sarah Jane slid her hand down one of the coral support columns. The uneven texture drove home the fact that the TARDIS and the new Doctor had changed more than she ever thought was possible. She decided to satisfy her curiosity and speak with Buffy and her husband, Spike.

"So… what's your Doctor like?" Sarah Jane asked the couple in her usual perky fashion. At first, neither Spike nor Buffy answered right away. Sarah Jane could see by their expressions they were trying to put into words how they felt about the old alien that meant so much to all of them.

Spike leaned back against the railing and looked over at the fourth Doctor. "In a lot of ways, our Doctor acts like your Doctor over there," he replied. "He's always polite to people he meets and gets excited like a schoolboy who finally figured out what girls are for whenever he gets the opportunity to learn something new," he stated. Spike paused again as he tried to find just the way of explaining the differences between her Doctor and theirs.

Buffy took over speaking when she noticed Spike pause. "But a lot has happened to the Doctor since he wore _THE_ Scarf," she added, chuckling when Sara Jane rolled her eyes at the odd costume addition. "He's had to do terrible things to protect the universe and make sure everyone else has a chance at life," she told the young reporter. "Those events left huge scars in the Doctor's soul and looking back on things, I think that if he and Faith hadn't found each other, he might have self destructed," she said in a soft voice.

Sarah Jane paused to think about what Buffy had said. It was strange to think of _her_ Doctor being vulnerable to human emotions like despair and love. "Faith must be an exceptional woman to have won his hearts," she observed slightly wistfully.

"I think it had more to do with both of them being broken Champions than anything else," Spike said.

Sarah Jane cocked her head to the side at Spike's choice of words. "What do you mean by 'Champions'?" she inquired.

Buffy answered the question so she could drive home a certain point with her undead husband, something the couple argued about every so often. "In the line of work we do, a Champion is someone the Powers That Be rely on to step into the gates of Hell and hold the line so everyone else can live and love," she explained. "Champions are very rare. We were able to get our hands on a severely redacted report from an evil law firm that suggested there were less than 15 Champions operating on Earth at any one time. Faith, Spike, and I are on that list. Considering there are over 6 billion people on the planet, the odds of even meeting another Champion is pretty rare and I managed to marry one," she said happily.

"I keep telling you, Pet, I'm no bloody Champion," Spike protested.

Buffy stared up at her husband and snuck her hand behind him to smack the back of his head. "Riiiight," she scoffed as she cuffed him one. "That's why you fought to get your soul back and were willing to go with me into the Hellmouth and face off against an army of Uber-Vamps when we were sure that none of us were going to survive," she reminded him. "Oh yeah, why don't you also remind me who was willing to turn himself into a living torch to give me and the new Slayers a chance to escape," she scolded her husband.

Sarah Jane again looked over at her Doctor. She could easily see how he fit the requirements for being a Champion. "You said you, Faith, and Spike were on the Champions list. Why wasn't the Doctor on the list?" she inquired.

Spike's smile showed how proud he was of his friend when he spoke. "There was a second list... a list of what the lawyers called the 'Super Champions'," he stated. "The Super Champions are beings so powerful that the PTB have no influence over them and try to stay as far away from them as possible," he explained. "As you can imagine, that's a pretty short list with our favorite Time traveling alien at the very top," he said proudly. Spike had managed to find the Super Champion list when he stole the other one from the Chicago branch of Wolfram and Hart. He had never heard of the rest of the Super Champions and was still trying to figure out what some farm boy in Kansas had that would earn him a spot right below the Doctor. The Super Champions list had burst into flames before Spike could pull it out of the file cabinet.

Across the control room, Willow and the fourth Doctor were deep in conversation while they took turns on her laptop. "This is truly a remarkable program you wrote," the Doctor praised Willow. "I have no idea how you managed to integrate magic and programing this way," he said.

Willow beamed at the praise the younger version of her friend gave her. "Thank you, Doctor," she replied. "However, spell-crafting and programming really aren't that different," she told him. "A complex spell relies on several smaller rituals working together in the proper order to have the desired effect," she stated. "The incantations used to trigger the rituals have to be phrased just the right way," she said. "So just like in programming, if you don't have the right sequence, input your information correctly, or classify your variables right, you end up with either nothing or something horribly wrong," she explained. "In fact, it was the early Druid spell-crafters that first came up with the concept of GIGO," she said.

The fourth Doctor paused for a moment in confusion. "I'm sorry, but what is 'GIGO'?" he asked.

"Garbage In-Garbage Out," Willow replied. "A few of the earliest programmers where closet Druids and borrowed the term to refer to how precise they needed to be when writing their code," she said.

The Doctor nodded his head, his face beaming from learning a new concept. "I still say it is a remarkable feat," he praised Willow again.

"Yeah, it's pretty neat, but will the program be strong enough to break through the firewalls of a TARDIS data matrix?" she asked.

The Doctor leaned back from the laptop and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No, I don't think it will be," he muttered. "This model of TARDIS matrix used a rotating seven layer firewall so it would be impossible to know which layers to attack in what order," he told her. A grin spread across his face as he went back to work at the computer. "However, I know just the subroutine to use to help your program smash through the firewalls and leave your program intact," he stated. His fingers flew over the keys as he rewrote the code he had used on several occasions to hack into the computers at the Academy in order to alter his attendance record. "During my school years, I needed to… um… alter certain records in the Dean's computer. He had an eight layered, rotating firewall," he said. "Quite by accident I learned that once the invading code had been destroyed, whatever layer of the firewall system that engaged the intruding program deactivated for a short time while it rebooted leaving the other firewall layers to defend the core. By layering shells of false programs around my true program, I was able to lose a shell program per layer of firewall and still get my program into the Dean's computer," he admitted. "I don't see why the same approach wouldn't work here," he stated with a grin.

Willow looked over the fourth Doctor's shoulder and she started clapping in excitement. "That's too cool!" she exclaimed as she scanned the code. When the Doctor was finished, Willow ejected the jump drive and held the small device in her hand. "Go kick some ass, Hunter," she ordered. Willow laid the jumpdrive down on top of the TARDIS data matrix that had stolen her friends. A red glow shot out of the USB end of the jumpdrive, arced a few inches above the matrix, and then dove into the alien metal using the access codes and trojan software the Doctor had added.

**********DrW**********

**TARDIS Data Matrix - Information Citadel**

The Rani stood up from her throne and took one step towards what the scanners told her was the tenth version of the Doctor. The damage to her DNA in the final moments of her life outside of the TARDIS matrix left her without many of the abilities her race enjoyed, one of which was the ability to see into the Time streams. When the Doctor responded by stepping away from her, the Rani frowned in mock disappointment. "Come, come Doctor, no hug for an old classmate?" she asked with saccharine sweetness.

The Doctor made a point to look slowly across the room. "That depends on whether or not I can get my hands on something sharp and pointy first," he replied angrily.

The acid in his voice made the Rani smile even more. "Honestly, Doctor, you aren't still holding a grudge for the 12 times I've tried to kill you are you?" she inquired sweetly.

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair so he wouldn't strangle the Rani with it. "It was 13 times and you know it!" he countered.

Laughing, the Rani sat back down on her throne. She pressed a button on the armrest and a forcefield shimmered around her before becoming invisible. The Rani admitted she had the emotional range of a teacup, but even she knew the Doctor was dangerously close to losing his temper. "No one, not even you, was able to prove the attempt on your life during our 5th year at the Academy had anything to do with me," she reminded

him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, annoyed they were having this argument again. "A deadly, genetically modified animal was let loose in my dorm room the day after it was announced I finally scored higher than you on a trans-dimensional physics test. As I remember, it was the one and only time someone beat you on a science test," he said. "I never had any doubts as to whom let that… thing loose under my bed," he told her. "The only thing I ever wondered about was how you came up with such a disturbing creature in the first place," he stated. "What kind of sick mind creates a venomous duck?" he wondered aloud.

The Rani shrugged her shoulders. "A misunderstood genius, no doubt," she responded.

"What do you want from me and my Companion?" the Doctor demanded, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere arguing over how many times the Rani had tried to kill him. "And while we're discussing things, how did you end up here?" he added.

Standing up, but being careful to stay within her forcefield, the Rani stared at the Doctor. "As _YOU_ well know, the final battle against the Daleks did not go very well for us. I worked the numbers early during the battle and fled from my post at the Citadel when I saw there was no way for us to win and more importantly for me to continue living," she told him. Memories of that night and what it had cost her made her grind her teeth in rage. The Rani sat back down, letting the useless emotion of hate dissolve. "I had almost managed to slip away in my TARDIS when both Kasterborous Prime and Minor flashed into supernovae. My TARDIS activated an emergency protocol I had installed and transferred my consciousness into its matrix right before the rest of it was destroyed. My experiments with the data core told me that barring a Universe ending event, this particular core would survive," she said. The Rani held up the digital representation of her hand to her face. "Unfortunately, during the transfer an anti-chonon pulse from the exploding Time drive swept through the console room just as I was digitized. My DNA was completely scrambled, making any chance of reforming outside of the matrix impossible," she stated. A beep sounded from the armrest of the throne drawing her attention. Tapping a button on her throne, she brought a screen to life hovering in the air in front of her. The Rani frowned as she read the results of the deep scan her tower had completed of the Doctor. As she feared, the damage done to her DNA meant that his Time Lord DNA made him unsuitable for her master plans.

The Doctor had been purposefully rude and turned away from the Rani as she spoke. He made a closer examination of his surroundings as she talked about her last moments in the physical world. The Rani never could skip out on bragging about her accomplishments. He walked over to a display showing the modifications the Rani had made to devices the students at the Academy used to play with while they were inside the Matrix of Gallifrey on field trips to the digital world. He noticed that the vast majority of the modifications she had made had been cosmetic and the basic function of all of the devices remained the same, including the "suit" every student wore to make them look more like a program. He let his hand slide over a black cylinder which was a "physical" representation of a subroutine that would activate a bi-wheeled transport construct, or a BTC as they called them, when a way of traveling faster than one could walk was needed. The Doctor spun around suddenly, startling the Rani and giving him a chance to swipe the cylinder without her noticing. With his left hand behind him and therefore out of the Rani's direct line of sight, he dropped the cylinder into a special holster that was built into every student's boot to carry just such a construct when not in use. "Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for you. I can't think of it happening to a nicer person," the Doctor snarked. He walked towards the throne, drawing the Rani's eyes away from the display. He stopped just in front of the force field. "You still haven't told me what you want with Faith and I," he reminded her.

The Rani gave the Doctor one of her rare, genuine smiles. "I would think that would be obvious, Doctor. I need an uncorrupted body to return to the physical world to continue with my experiments," she replied. "You haven't been the first group to stumble across the TARDIS core distress beacon. When we make contact, the matrix core has orders to digitize any sentient in range, evaluate their vessel for compatibility, and destroy it if it isn't compatible. After that the core goes back into standby mode waiting for our next 'rescuer'," she said. "Only the very best physical specimen will do for my return. For that purpose, I created a set of challenges that pit the specimens against the best programs I could find. Unfortunately, none of the specimens I have captured have survived the challenges so far. When I run out of specimens, which I seem to do at an alarmingly high rate, I use captured programs from the other vessels to compete against my programs to sharpen their skills," she explained. "Here, let me show you what I'm talking about," she offered. With a wave of her hand, a large screen appeared between the Doctor and a window looking out over the digital frontier of the matrix core.

The screen flickered to life and showed first several competitors riding their BTCs in a huge coliseum. These BTC, like the one the Doctor had nicked, had been modified to extrude a wall of solid light behind them as they raced around the multi-level challenge track. The Doctor winced as one of the light blue hued BTC stuck an orange light wall, shattering both the light blue BTC and its rider into their component bits. The screen flickered again and this time it showed three combatants with light blue highlights on their black suits surrounded by six orange hued attackers. One of the defenders quickly grabbed the disk attached to his back and threw it at one of the orange attackers. The orange program was just a little slow to respond and the disc sliced through him before he could he could evade. Like in the BTC battle, this program shattered into his component bits, the shiny representations of individual blocks of data bouncing on the ground when they hit. The remaining orange programs threw their discs at the same time. The light blue defenders never had a chance at blocking that many simultaneous attacks and they too were reduced to tiny blocks of data.

"ENOUGH!" the Doctor yelled and stepped into the screen, making it disappear. "I won't let you do that to Faith!" he bellowed. With surprising quickness, the Doctor's right hand shot over his shoulder to grab his own identity disc. He didn't have time to wonder why it felt different than what he would have expected had he grabbed a normal disc. Using all of the years playing various throwing games like Cricket or Nebunian tak-tak-vub, the Doctor threw his disc at the Rani with lethal precision. His disc bounced off the impenetrable force field and returned to his outstretched hand.

The Rani laughed at the disgusted look on the Doctor's face before he stalked over to the window to look out over her digital domain. "Did you honestly think I would risk myself by talking to you if I didn't know you were powerless against me?" she chided him.

The Doctor took a long, calming breath, forcing himself to think rather than just react. With his body between his disc and the Rani, he had a chance to examine it to see what was different about it compared to a normal disc. Like most identity discs, his was more of a ring instead of a complete disc. The side of the ring fit squarely in his palm, making it easy to throw and catch. Unlike other discs however, the Doctor's identity disc had a silver tube running the diameter of the disc. A plan started to form in his mind when he realized what had happened. The Doctor knew that when a matrix core digitizes a sentient being, it finds a way to represent everything about them. In the Doctor's case, it had represented his unequalled skills at programing and hacking by fusing an example of his greatest hacking invention into the disc. Embedded into his disc, running through the middle of it, was a digital representation of his sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor allowed himself a smile as he decided to go ahead with the new plan. Granted it wasn't a fully formed plan and had far too many variables to be even remotely called safe, but it was plan none the less. He reached out his hand and tapped the "glass" of the window with his finger. Small blue ones and zeros radiated out from his tap like waves in a pond. "I see the windows of your fortress aren't nearly as strong as your personal force field," he said in an off hand manner.

"Of course they aren't. That would be a terrible waste of data resources. We are the digital equivalent of being 2 kilometers above the data floor. The only way to reach up this high is to use a flying construct and I control all of them. If for some reason a rogue program does manage to get their hands on one and fly this way, the Citadel's information cannons will blast it literally into bits before it the construct gets anywhere near it," the Rani replied. She allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as the Doctor first strained to down through the window and then up to see the information cannons fashioned to look just like the tachyon cannons of the real Citadel. The Rani knew the Doctor well from their time together at the Academy. Any moment now his hearts would break as he realized he was trapped and there was nothing he could do about it.

"I thought as much," the Doctor muttered as he backed away from the window. He continued to back up until he reached the far wall. Without another word, he flung his disc at the window, shattering just like he had seen the slave programs shatter. The disc bounced back into his waiting hand and he put the disc back on his back.

The Rani sighed loudly at what she considered as the Doctor acting rather silly. She had factored in every variable she could think of and the digital world was designed to work much like the physical one. A fall from this height would guarantee the de-resolution of the Doctor. "That was childish. Other than lashing out at something like a caged beast, what was the purpose of that? You and I both know there is no escape that way!" the Rani scolded the Doctor.

The Doctor faced the now open window and turned his head so the Rain could see his eyes. "I know you as well as you know me. I know you believe that you factored in every detail. You probably even factored in the fact that by bringing me here and telling me what you plan on doing with Faith, I would never rest until I stopped you," he told here. "Thing is… there are still two factors that I'm positive you didn't add into your equations. The first is the fact that I love Faith and that love will drive me to do things that not even imaginable in your emotionless little world," he said coldly and then stopped speaking.

The Rani scoffed at his mentioning something as irrelevant as love. The Doctor always had been extremely over emotional in her opinion. Curiosity finally got the better of the Rani and she took the bait. "What is the other factor you believe I miscalculated?" she asked.

The Doctor's smirk and sly wink confused the Rani. "I always was better at computers and programming than you," he replied simply and then turned his head so he could look out the empty window.

Before the Rani could say something snarky back at him, the Doctor bolted towards the empty window. As he started to run, time seemed to slow down for the Rani. She watched the Doctor as if he were in slow motion, his lean body racing forward with simple, elemental purpose. The Doctor never even broke stride as he reached the wall and braced his foot on the window sill. Without even the slightest bit of fear showing, the Doctor launched himself into the empty space surrounding the top most levels of the Citadel. As soon as he was free of the building, his right hand shot back and grabbed his ID disc. With his left he reached into his boot and withdrew the cylinder that activated the BTC. The Doctor brought both hands together and an orange, enclosed, two wheel vehicle sprang into existence around him. The colored flicked for an instant and then the orange was replaced by the familiar dark blue of his TARDIS. The BTC started to fall but suddenly changed direction and slammed both wheels onto the wall of the Citadel.

The Rani shut down her forcefield and ran to the open window to watch her old enemy cease to exist. Her jaw dropped open as the Rani heard the whine of the BTC's computation engine as it raced down the side of the Citadel, completely ignoring the law of gravity. The dark blue, solid light trail zig zagged down the side of the building as the Doctor swerved to avoid balconies and other things jutting out in his way. It had never occurred to the genius who devoted her life to the bio-genetic sciences that it was even possible to hack the basic subroutine of the BTC and allow the rider to choose what direction was considered down and therefore what direction gravity was pulling them from. On the other hand however, to the student who would have been the most infamous hacker in the entire history of the Prydonian Academy had he ever been caught, such a hack was almost second nature.

Both the Rani and the Doctor were so focussed on his escape that they didn't see the data construct streaking down through the clouds like a meteor. It flashed red seven times as each layer of the core's firewall destroyed a layer of protective dummy programs. After the seventh flash, the meteor changed course and rocketed towards the giant coliseum where the games were held.


End file.
